Taglines: Travis McGee is having a conference with one of his clients. Business as usual.
Darker Than Amber movie storyline. Travis McGee (Rod Taylor) and his close friend Meyer (Theodore Bikel) are fishing underneath a bridge in their coastal Florida home. To their shock a young woman is thrown off the bridge; she is bound and her ankles weighted with a dumbbell. Travis dives in and saves her, learning her name is Vangie. He is surprised when she insists that he not contact the police and Travis finds himself falling in love with the mysterious woman.
She gradually opens up to Travis, admitting that she was nearly killed due to her involvement in a prostitution ring and a murder scheme. Vangie was part of a team that worked in male/female pairs on cruise ships: pretty young women lured rich lonely men and then drugged their drinks to rob them when they were passed out. The male partner, a sadistic bodybuilder named Terry (William Smith), throws the men overboard to drown. Vangie became a target when she objected the murders, having been led to believe the men would only be robbed.
Despite Travis and Meyer’s efforts to protect Vangie, Terry tracks her down and murders her. Travis and Meyer then set out to dismantle the gang. They locate a woman named Merrimay, who bears a striking resemblance to Vangie. On a cruise ship, Travis poses as a wealthy man traveling alone, serving as bait for Terry and his new partner Del. Del approaches Travis and invites him to her room—but knowing their scheme he refuses to take the drinks she serves and warns that her life is in danger. Angry that Travis has located him, Terry, who was lying in wait in an adjoining room, savagely attacks Travis who is overwhelmed after wounding Terry.
Terry flees the cruise ship where Meyer and Merrimay are waiting at the pier. Merrimay, her hair dyed to closer resemble Vangie, calls out to Terry. Already bloodied by his fight with Travis, Terry goes berserk at the idea that Vangie survived and storms down the gangplank towards her, punching anyone in his way. Security guards try stopping Terry, but they only slow him until Travis appears and takes down the muscle-bound killer with a blow from a wooden 2×4.
Darker than Amber is a 1970 film adaptation of John D. MacDonald’s mystery/suspense novel, Darker than Amber. It was directed by Robert Clouse from a screenplay by MacDonald and Ed Waters. The film starred Rod Taylor as Travis McGee, the protagonist of a series of successful novels by MacDonald. Darker than Amber and The Empty Copper Sea (adapted as the 1983 film Travis McGee starring Sam Elliott) remain the only McGee novels adapted to the big screen to date. The film also marked the final onscreen appearance of actress Jane Russell prior to her death in 2011, with the exception of a documentary appearance in 2007.
The film recorded admissions of 17,351 in France. The film recorded a loss of $2,958,251. Producer Jack Reeves had bought the rights for another McGee novel The Deep Blue Goodbye but it was decided not to proceed with it.
Darker Than Amber (1970)
Directed by: Robert Clouse
Starring: Rod Taylor, Theodore Bikel, Suzy Kendall, Ahna Capri, William Smith, Janet MacLachlan, Robert Phillips, Jane Russell, James Booth, Oswaldo Calvo, Marcia Knight, Sherry Faber
Screenplay by: John D. MacDonald, Ed Waters
Cinematography by: Frank V. Phillips
Film Editing by: Fred A. Chulack
Costume Design by: Richard Bruno
Set Decoration by: Don K. Ivey
Art Direction by: Jack T. Collis
Music by: John Carl Parker
MPAA Rating: None.
Distributed by: National General Pictures
Release Date: August 14, 1970
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