The first scene, backed by a chorus of angel voices, has a fake spiritualist named Madame Blanche communing with the deceased loved ones of the filthy-rich Mrs. Rainbird. It's a lot of talk -- first one face, then the other, back and forth, interminably. The second scene has Blanche reiterating the entire first scene to her cabdriver boyfriend from the backseat of his cab. More talk -- first one face, then the other, back and forth, interminably. None too soon, the cab nearly bumps into a pedestrian dressed in a blond wig, dark glasses, black trenchcoat, and Garbo slouch hat; and the narrative switches to a second storyline, something out of Batman, about a suave mustachioed kidnapper who hides his victims behind a false brick wall in his cellar and hides the diamonds he collects as ransom in the chandelier above his front hall. The pace does not pick up in this apathetic Hitchcock thriller until scriptwriter Ernest Lehman, renovating a bit from North by Northwest, points a car, without brakes, downhill on a winding mountain road. Bruce Dern manages by hook or crook to preserve his usual persona and make his lines sound like his own (his trustiest gimmick is to tack a "my dear" or a "darlin' " onto the ends of his lines whenever possible). With Barbara Harris, William Devane, and Karen Black. (1976) — Duncan Shepherd
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