Two San Francisco detectives investigating a murder committed on one of the city's famous cable cars discover that the victim was the son of a shipping tycoon. The trail leads to a drug dealer, a shady physician and a nervous police captain
Acting
Robert Hooks carries every scene he's in.
Production
Genuine 1971 San Francisco location shooting.
Direction
Jerry Thorpe's efficient TV-to-film pacing.
Director
Jerry Thorpe
Robert Hooks
Inspector Lou Van Alsdale
Jeremy Slate
Sgt. Pat Cassady
Robert Wagner
Howard McBride
Carol Lynley
Kathy Cooper
Simon Oakland
Capt. E. J. Goodlad
John Randolph
Frederick Cooper
José Ferrer
Dr. Charles Bedford
Don Pedro Colley
Freddie Trench
Ta-Tanisha
Rainie Lewis
H.B. Haggerty
J.P. Moose
Mario Van Peebles
Raphael
James McEachin
Don Cope
Lawrence Cook
Harold Britten
Joyce Jameson
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Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Robert Hooks was one of the few Black leading men in 1970s TV crime dramas, paving the way for Shaft's TV run the same year.
This aired as an ABC Movie of the Week, part of a 1971 slate that included Steven Spielberg's Duel — both films share that made-for-TV urgency that somehow aged into cult appeal.
US
