Friday, December 14, 2012

The Manchu Eagle Murder Caper Mystery (1975)

United Artists
Directed by Dean Hargrove
My rating: 2.5 stars out of 4
IMDb
(DVD, MGM Limited Edition Collection)

Entertaining spoof of The Maltese Falcon with Gabriel Dell perfectly cast as a middle aged amateur detective in a small California desert town. Normally a "poultry engineer", he gets a mail-order detective license and sends out flyers to the town's handful of residents. They come knocking down his door with personal problems, until one of them is shot by an arrow in his office. The clues revolve around several sexually frustrated women and a dead billy goat. Filled with wonderful character actors and shot on a shoestring budget that actually helps the atmosphere. A memorable finale drenched in blood is not to be missed.

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