Welcome to Retro Television Reviews, a feature where we review some of our favorite and least favorite shows of the past!  On Sundays, I will be reviewing the made-for-television movies that used to be a primetime mainstay.  Today’s film is 1971’s In Broad Daylight!  It  can be viewed on YouTube.

Tony Chappel (Richard Boone) is an actor who has just recently lost his sight as a result of an accident.  Released from the hospital, Tony struggles to adjust to living in a world without his vision.  When one cab driver says to him, “Didn’t you used to be Tony Chappel?,” he flinches as he realizes that his career as a famous actor is now considered to be over.  One day, he comes home early and overhears his wife (Stella Stevens) fooling around with his lawyer and “best friend” (Fred Beir).  Tony promptly decides to murder his wife and frame his friend for the crime.

Tony decides to use his acting skills to his advantage.  He memorizes the the area around him so that he can make his way through it by memory.  He puts on a fake beard, speaks with Greek accent, and makes a point of carrying a camera with him.  He starts taking public transportation and going out of his way to be talkative and social  Everyone that he meets, he tells them about how he’s been taking pictures of the city and how he can’t wait to see how they come out.  When his wife is eventually murdered, the police receive a reports of a mysterious Greek man, one who was definitely not blind, in the area.  However, Lt. Bergman (John Marley) has his doubts and comes to suspect that Tony is the killer.

In Broad Daylight was made from an early script written by Larry Cohen, who would later go on to direct films like God Told Me To.  It’s a clever script, one that sets up an intriguing premise and which ends on a properly twisty and satisfactory note.  The film works because it is as much of a character study as a thriller.  Tony’s wife not only cheats on him but also betrays him at the moment when he needs her and his friends the most.  Tony has gone from being a movie star to being a man who can barely walk from one room to another.  He’s already angry.  Discovering that his wife is laughing at him behind his back is the last straw.

Larry Cohen reportedly felt that Richard Boone was miscast as Tony.  I felt that Boone did a pretty good job, even if he did overact a bit while Tony was trying to convince everyone that he was a Greek tourist.  Stella Stevens is perfectly cast as his wife and Suzanne Pleshette is sympathetic as his nurse.  Godfather fans will be happy to see John Marley not having to deal with a horse’s head but instead playing the clever detective who attempts to solve the murder.

In Broad Daylight is a clever and entertaining thriller and character study.