Accused murderer Frankie Steele walks free, thanks to the efforts of San Francisco defense lawyer Joe Ricco. Then a pair of cop killings strikes the city. All signs point to the newly released Steele as the perpetrator. Has Ricco sprung a killer? Dean Martin keeps his affable ease but abandons his hipster Matt Helm-series swagger to portray Ricco in his final leading-role film, a whodunit mystery set in the city that also was the gritty center of action for the era’s Bullitt and Dirty Harry. Convinced that Steele isn’t behind the murders, Ricco launches an inquiry and runs up against a police lieutenant assigned to birddog him, evidence planted by a racist cop and several assassination attempts on Ricco himself. As the mystery deepens, so does the danger. And behind it all is someone the attorney never suspected. The pre-Laverne & Shirley Cindy Williams plays Ricco’s office assistant.
Dean Martin
as Joe Ricco
Eugene Roche
as George Cronyn
Thalmus Rasulala
as Frankie Steele
Denise Nicholas
as Irene Mapes
Cindy Williams
as Jamison
Geraldine Brooks
as Katherine Fremont
Philip Michael Thomas
as Purvis Mapes (as Philip Thomas)
Dennis Lee Smith
as Officer Hanley
George Tyne
as Lt. Barrett
Robert Sampson
as Justin
Michael Gregory
as Tanner
Joseph Hacker
as Markham
