Pretty Maids All in a Row
| Pretty Maids All in a Row | |
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Pretty Maids All in a Row theatrical poster
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| Directed by | Roger Vadim |
| Produced by | Gene Roddenberry |
| Screenplay by | Gene Roddenberry |
| Based on |
Pretty Maids All in a Row by Francis Pollini |
| Starring |
Rock Hudson Angie Dickinson Telly Savalas |
| Music by | Lalo Schifrin |
| Cinematography | Charles Rosher, Jr. |
| Edited by | Bill Brame |
| Distributed by | Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer |
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Release date
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Running time
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91 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Box office | 282,810 admissions (France) |
Pretty Maids All in a Row is an American mystery film that is part dark comedy, part murder mystery. Starring Rock Hudson alongside Angie Dickinson, it was released on April 28, 1971. Roger Vadim directed the film, which Gene Roddenberry produced, having dramatized a 1968 novel written by Francis Pollini into the screenplay from which Vadim worked. This was Roddenberry's only feature film writing credit.
The story is set in "Oceanfront High School," a fictitious American high school in the height of the sexual revolution. Young female students are being targeted by an unknown serial killer. Meanwhile, a male student called Ponce is experiencing sexual frustration, surrounded by a seemingly unending stream of beautiful and sexually provocative classmates.
Michael "Tiger" McDrew (Hudson) is the high school's football coach and guidance counselor, but there is another aspect of Tiger's character; he has participated in a number of sexual encounters with female students. Tiger tries to befriend Ponce and help him deal with his sexual needs by encouraging him to seek the affections of a sexy substitute teacher, Miss Betty Smith (Dickinson).
Meanwhile, one young girl after another turns up dead. A police detective captain, Sam Surcher (Telly Savalas), investigates the case but never obtains enough courtroom-admissible evidence to make an arrest. Tiger is suspected, but never caught red-handed. Ponce, however, discovers that Tiger is guilty when he discovers evidence hidden in his office. Tiger drives Ponce to a pier where he confesses, and apparently commits suicide by driving his car into the ocean with Ponce as his witness. However, Surcher suspects that Tiger has faked his own death when he notices that his supposed widow is hiding a ticket to Brazil.
The "Pretty Maids:"
The novel was published in 1968. Producer Jay Weston and director James B. Harris originally optioned the novel and assigned William Hanley to write the script. The movie was set up at MGM.Joe Namath was meant to star as the football coach.
Eventually Gene Roddenberry rewrote the script and came on board as producer; the job of directing was given to Roger Vadim - his first movie in two years. "There is no role in the film for Jane Fonda," said the director who was estranged from his wife at the time.
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