SUMMARY: APPROX. RUNNING TIME: 47:00 Min.
First broadcast by CBS-TV, on September 27, 1987, Seymour Robbie directed this episode from screenwriter Arthur Weingarten.
An afternoon party celebrating high school football coach Kevin Cauldwell’s (McMillan) retirement includes local alums from the team’s 1966-67 championship squad: car dealership owner Bill Hampton (Rambo), Judge Perry Sillman (Perry), and snarky businessman Arnie Wakeman (Lembeck). Their former English teacher, Jessica Fletcher (Lansbury), also attends, as one of McMillan’s longtime friends and co-worker.
Meanwhile, ex-convict Andrew Durbin (Glover) resurfaces after twenty years to torment Hampton over a controversial robbery-homicide re: a still-missing $100,000 in bonds. Becoming increasingly desperate, a worried Hampton arms himself and reaches out to an unknown friend for help. When Hampton soon turns up dead, Jessica disbelieves the suicide theory. She then realizes that her former students may still be covering up a deadly old secret.
Jessica Fletcher: Angela Lansbury
Sheriff Amos Tupper: Tom Bosley
Andrew Durbin: John Glover
Bill Hampton: Dack Rambo
Alison Hampton: Shelley Smith
Judge Perry Sillman: John Bennett Perry
Tara Sillman: Caitlin O’Heaney
Arnie Wakeman: Michael Lembeck
“Coach” Kevin Cauldwell: Kenneth McMillan
Doc Mathews: Charles Summers
Dan Pulling: Mark Voland
REVIEW:
In a welcome change after the dreadful Season 4 opener, a well-played script, sharp direction, and a terrific cast make all the difference for Episode 2. To scripter Arthur Weingarten’s credit, his storyline doesn’t telegraph anything, as he makes Angela Lansbury’s Jessica Fletcher earn her insightful deductions. Led by John Glover’s intriguing Durbin, the guest players are on the game, as are Lansbury & Tom Bosley.
The plot’s sinister vibe is stoked equally by Glover convincingly pursuing twenty-year personal grudge in a macabre search for justice, and by Dack Rambo as the rattled target of his wrath. Matthew Perry’s father, John Bennett Perry, is totally believable as a judge possibly compromised by his long-time friendship with a possible thief/murderer. The remaining guest cast pitches standard-issue performances, but their efforts hardly diminish the plot twists awaiting viewers.
Even for non-Murder, She Wrote fans, “When Thieves Fall Out” is a solid TV mystery that holds up remarkably well today.
BRIAN’S ODD MOON RATING: 7½ Stars
