Rehearsal for Murder
DVD artwork.
GenreDrama
Mystery
Thriller
Written byRichard Levinson
William Link
Directed byDavid Greene
StarringRobert Preston
Lynn Redgrave
Music byBilly Goldenberg
Country of originUnited States
Original languageEnglish
Production
Executive producersRichard Levinson
William Link
ProducerRobert A. Papazian
CinematographyStevan Larner
EditorParkie Singh
Running time96 minutes
Production companiesCBS Productions
A Richard Levinson / William Link Production
in association with Robert Papazian Productions, Inc.
Original release
NetworkCBS
ReleaseMay 26, 1982 (1982-05-26)

Rehearsal for Murder is an American murder mystery television film starring Robert Preston and Lynn Redgrave, and directed by David Greene. The script, written by Richard Levinson and William Link, won a 1983 Edgar Award from the Mystery Writers of America. It originally aired on the CBS Television Network on May 26, 1982.

Plot

(Television Film)

When his leading lady (and fiancée) Monica Welles (Redgrave) is found dead from an apparent suicide after the opening night of her Broadway stage debut, playwright Alex Dennison (Preston) is left heartbroken. On the first anniversary of her death, he gathers the cast and crew from that ill-fated night in the same Broadway theater, ostensibly to read a new play he is working on, a mystery in which a famous actress is killed. As the reading progresses, the scenes seem to the cast to be uncomfortably close to actual encounters they might have had with Monica. When pressed, Alex finally reveals that he believes that Monica was murdered and that someone at the theater is her killer.

(Theatrical Production)

One year after the supposed suicide of his fiancée (Monica Welles) Alex Dennison invites his friends, some cast and crew from the play one year ago, to read through a new play, Killing Jessica. Along with the cast he invites another actor (Frank Heller) to pose as a police officer(Henry McElroy). During the reading of the scenes, some of the cast become unnerved by Jessica's similarity to the late Monica Welles and the scenes' similarity to reality. After reading a few scenes, the producer (Bella Lamb), director (Lloyd Andrews) and lead (David Matthews) demand to know what is Alex's true intentions are, leading him to reveal that the killer of Monica is in the theatre. Most of the cast and crew decides on leaving, but with aid of the false police officer and the unintentional aid of the producer (Bella Lamb), they are convinced of reading through more scenes. After reading the a few more scenes, they start to question Alex's mental state, leading to them to leave for the sake of Alex's mental health. However, Alex draws a revolver on his friends, forcing them to stay and keep reading through his scenes. After Alex is convinced that the comic (Leo Gibbs) killed Monica, he draws his revolver once more and fires upon Leo with blank cartridges. The lights go out after someone conspiring with Alex pulls the switch. The chaos leads to Frank Heller revealing what he knows about Monica's apartment the day she died. Alex his friends reveal that they knew that he was the killer all along, and all they wanted out of him was a confession. Frank reveals that Monica nearly slept with him after a fight with Alex, and so he used that as blackmail to get a large sum of money from Monica. After the meeting went wrong, he unintentionally killed Monica. The real Henry McElroy reveals that he was watching the whole time and comes to arrest Frank. Alex and his friends rejoice that the killer has been brought to justice after all this time. The play ends after his friends leave and Alex toasts with Monica's untouched glass; showing him making peace with this new reality.

Cast

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