Murder by Numbers

I generally wouldn't think of reviewing a film I'd seen only 3/4ths of, but this particular mystery happened to leave off the ending on the screening copy as part of a contest for retailers. In a nutshell, Walter, a gay artist, is found dead. Several suspects, most of whom have done serious duty on game shows--Dick Sargent, Jayne Meadows, Cleavon Little, Shari Belafonte, etc.--are introduced over the next fifteen minutes. A lawyer named Lee (Sam Behrens) leads both the search for the killer and the list of contestants (all of the above named) who are vying for most cheesy and/or boring performance of the year. I, for one, will not be rushing to my local video store on the street date to find out the ending. I don't care who killed Walter. Not recommended. (R. Pitman)