Vera Miles is the important character here, and she is the one sustaining the film throughout, although the others, especially beautiful Barbara Eden and stolid Larry Hagman, also act welll indeed - in fact, everybody does, but the main thing is the story, which is wonderfully contrived, like a real thriller of the old times. It all begins as a mystery, Barbara goes up in the mountains to visit her childhood home and father's later wife in an effort to divorce Larry Hagman, but a child has been murdered by the lake, and there is a dog howling in the woods. Barbara is curious about the dog and his sufferings and finally trace him to his soft spot, which is a grave. People are keeping secrets, and Vera Miles has taken on a young musician who is somewhat on the freakish side, but the music of the film is marvellous all through and one of its greatest assets. Although the mysteries add up into a knotty mess, it all ultimately makes sense and reveals the real tragedy, which actually is all about the disappearance of Barbara's father into the jungles of Mexico, as they say...
The film has more qualitites than what first meets the eye, but the foremost is Vera Miles' character and acting. It will be very interesting to revisit this film some time, when you now know what really happened and understand all the cover-ups..
The film has more qualitites than what first meets the eye, but the foremost is Vera Miles' character and acting. It will be very interesting to revisit this film some time, when you now know what really happened and understand all the cover-ups..