Tim McIntire

            On Tuesday I got caught up on my writing.

            I washed four undershirts and put them out back to dry.

            In the afternoon I rode down to Freshco to buy some grapes, peaches and nectarines.

            When I got back, before hanging my bike up I put a rubber strip on my handlebar so that my front flasher would clamp tighter.

            I grilled the drumsticks that I’d bought from No Frills and had two with dinner, cutting back from three to lose weight.

            I watched the 1984 made for TV Mike Hammer movie, “More Than Murder”, which was the final pilot before the first series that featured Stacy Keach as Mike Hammer. The production values, the sets and most of the main cast are the same as in Murder Me, Murder You. The only change is that there is a different Velda in Lindsay Bloom. I thought Tanya Roberts in the previous pilot was better but Bloom is properly cast otherwise.

            A major cocaine deal is going down at a high stakes poker game and police Captain Pat Chambers is waiting for DEA Agent Tom Phillips so they can bust it. But before he arrives the game is raided by two masked gunmen who take all of the money, including the lucky diamond ring of one of the players. Another player tries to intervene and he is killed. The partner of the shooter says in a Scottish accent, "You said there'd be no killing!” The gunmen escape by paragliding off the roof of the high-rise. Pat sees them land and get into a cab. He goes after them but is shot in the back and nearly dies as the bullet is dangerously close to his spine. Since Pat had no official authority to be there his presence was considered incriminating and on top of that a bag of cocaine is found in his car. He is arrested on drug charges.

            Hammer sets about to prove Pat's innocence. He knew about the game and at least one of the people that was there, a Country singer named Malcolm Dobbs. He goes to him and forces information from him about the rest of the players.

            Hammer investigates the building where the game took place and discovers that rock-climbing tools were used by the gunmen to scale the tower, a couple of pieces of which were left behind. Only one store sells that particular type of equipment. He goes to the store and meets Sandy, the woman who runs the store. She is very cooperative and helps Hammer find out who bought the climbing tools. She decides that she wants to become Hammer's assistant and accompanies him on the case. She introduces him to another climber who happens to be Scottish. He admits that he was one of the gunmen and says he will cooperate with Hammer but then he is shot by a sniper.

            Hammer finds out that Eve, the woman who worked as the dealer at the poker game is an agent for the Justice Department who was working undercover to catch the big dealer. She and Hammer become lovers and fall in love.

            Sandy turns up dead in Hammer’s apartment. The Country singer is assassinated during an encore.

            Hammer discovers that the boat that carried the cocaine is up for auction. He goes to find Tom Phillips trying to buy it. Hammer finds the larger shipment of coke is still hidden in the boat. He has a gunfight with Phillips and Hammer's lover is shot, after which Hammer kills Phillips.

            Malcolm Dobbs was played by character actor Tim McIntire, whom I just found out was the voice the telepathic dog in one of my favourite movies, “A Boy and His Dog” starring Don Johnson. The dog didn’t actually speak but the audience heard what his companion Vic heard in his head as they wandered through a post-apocalyptic America looking for food and females. McIntire also wrote the music for the film. Earlier McIntire played the role of Archie Bunker’s son in law in the original pilot for All In The Family before the part was given to Rob Reiner. McIntire died two years after playing Malcolm Dobbs of heart failure resulting from abuse of drugs.

            This film’s Velda and the Velda for the following series was played by Lindsay Bloom,

while the Velda for Murder Me Murder You, and the better of the two was played by Tanya Roberts.