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They Only Kill Their Masters

Play trailer Poster for They Only Kill Their Masters PG 1972 1h 37m Mystery & Thriller Play Trailer Watchlist
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Tomatometer 3 Reviews 31% Popcornmeter 100+ Ratings
When a woman is mysteriously killed in the small coastal town of Eden Landing, Police Chief Abel Marsh (James Garner) investigates. Initially, he's inclined to believe the town rumor that she was killed by her own Doberman Pinscher. But as Abel digs deeper he uncovers a complex network of connections between the dead girl and virtually everyone else in their tiny community. Faced with an ever-widening number of suspects, Abel consoles himself by sleeping with the prettiest (Katharine Ross).
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They Only Kill Their Masters

Critics Reviews

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Mike Massie Gone With The Twins The mystery isn't too complex, but Garner and Ross make the film interesting nonetheless. Rated: 7/10 Aug 31, 2020 Full Review Dick Lochte Los Angeles Free Press With television gradually improving the quality of its Movies of the Week, one would expect theatrical producers to follow that example. Jan 3, 2020 Full Review Dennis Schwartz Dennis Schwartz Movie Reviews Neat atmospheric low-key whodunit. Rated: B- Oct 9, 2013 Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

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Blu B It's ok. Biggest problem is the editing isn't good. The reveal and twist makes sense and isn't bad honestly. But everything leading up to it is so jumpy and muddled. I thought this was gonna be a like a buddy cop K-9 kind of movie but no, the dog is barely in it after the first scene. #FalseAdvertising Than Gardner's relationship with Moss is never really tied in that well despite kind of being important. Than jumping aorund between all the different leads and people along the way gets so muddled and meandering at times. It isn't clear why one scene leads to the next honestly. Everything else though is pretty basic though and inoffensive. This is a very easygoing type of film to watch. Most of it is because of Gardner's easy going likability. Also the 70's elevator music sounding soundtrack doesn't fit for a detective crime movie. The whole thing takes place in a Mayberry type of town. The characters are all very forgettable honestly despite kind of a interesting mystery setup. It just isn't executed well at all and needed to be way more cohesive and have more interesting characters and performances. Skip this. Not the worst thing ever but very forgettable. Rated 3 out of 5 stars 08/14/25 Full Review Felix M My wife and I saw this movie in the theater during our second year of marriage in 1972. We were both big fans of James Garner, and living in a coastal town on Cape Cod, we enjoyed it very much. Rated 5 out of 5 stars 09/08/24 Full Review Audience Member Wait for it...what a twist, what a slice of history. Extremely CONTROVERSIAL & AHEAD of its time. Rated 5 out of 5 stars 01/31/23 Full Review Audience Member James Garner is the sheriff of a small costal California town (modern day, not old west) investigating the murder of a woman in this Raymond Chandler-like mystery. Katharine Ross, Hal Holbrook, June Allyson, Tom Ewell , Peter Lawford, Edmond O'Brien and Arthur O'Connell are among the suspects, but sadly the film is rather slow and not all that engaging. Garner is always easy to watch on screen, so that helped hold my interest compared to if there had been a lesser actor in the lead. Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars 01/31/23 Full Review Audience Member one of those dog movies first saw this at the drive-in Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars 01/21/23 Full Review Audience Member A "whodunit" with an interesting premise - did a Doberman actually kill his master or is there something more sinister behind it all? Unfortunately, this narrative hook is handled in a very straight-forward and obvious manner that is more adequate for an episode of, say, "The Rockford Files" (which, or course, features Garner as well). The direction is rather workman-like (again, TV quality) but the performances are strong enough to maintain interest (especially Garner). Sadly, this is nothing more than a good episode of a some detective show and not the quality of a feature film. If it's on television, give it a watch, but don't go out of your way to see it. Rated 2 out of 5 stars 02/03/23 Full Review Read all reviews
They Only Kill Their Masters

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Movie Info

Synopsis When a woman is mysteriously killed in the small coastal town of Eden Landing, Police Chief Abel Marsh (James Garner) investigates. Initially, he's inclined to believe the town rumor that she was killed by her own Doberman Pinscher. But as Abel digs deeper he uncovers a complex network of connections between the dead girl and virtually everyone else in their tiny community. Faced with an ever-widening number of suspects, Abel consoles himself by sleeping with the prettiest (Katharine Ross).
Director
James Goldstone
Producer
William Belasco
Rating
PG
Genre
Mystery & Thriller
Original Language
English
Release Date (Streaming)
Jun 22, 2009
Runtime
1h 37m
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