Murder by the Book

Mar 17, 1987

1h 40m

★ 5.9

Overview

Mild-mannered mystery writer D. H. Mercer has become so immersed in his material that his creation, hard-boiled private eye Biff Deegan, constantly appears to him as a hallucination. Intent on getting rid of Biff, and replacing him with a more civilized detective, Mercer soon finds himself in a genuine mystery involving art fraud, murder, and a beautiful lady in peril.

Genres

Comedy

Crime

Mystery

Thriller

TV Movie

Production Companies

Orion Television

Peter Nelson Production

Murder by the Book Trailers

No Trailers found.

Cast

D.H. 'Hank' Mercer / Biff Deegan

Robert Hays

Marissa

Catherine Mary Stewart

Lt. Greenberg

Christopher Murney

Victor Greville

Fred Gwynne

Claire

Celeste Holm

Nicholas Rubinstein

Jonathan Moore

Pete

Martin Neufeld

Michael Copeman

Bunty Webb

Eric Keenleyside

Robin Ward

Eric Fink

A museum heist with an unusual twist: the three thieves are all physically disabled. The men, one confined to a wheelchair, one with prosthetic hands, and one blind, plan to steal a valuable statue. The men use teamwork and ingenuity to beat the high-tech security and get in and out with the statue. However, their plan is not foolproof, as a museum guard recognizes their M.O. and pays them a visit.

6.6

Housebound

Sep 4, 2014

When Kylie Bucknell is sentenced to home detention, she's forced to come to terms with her unsociable behaviour, her blabbering mother and a hostile spirit who seems less than happy about the new living arrangement.

0.0

Nostalgia

Sep 22, 2018

In an unstable marriage, Marion worries for her husband, Frank, as his behavior grows more and more erratic.

8.2

The Shining

May 23, 1980

Jack Torrance accepts a caretaker job at the Overlook Hotel, where he, along with his wife Wendy and their son Danny, must live isolated from the rest of the world for the winter. But they aren't prepared for the madness that lurks within.

7.7

Manhattan

Apr 25, 1979

Manhattan explores how the life of a middle-aged television writer dating a teenage girl is further complicated when he falls in love with his best friend's mistress.

9.0

Humor Risk

Dec 1, 1921

Harpo played the hero, a detective named Watson who "made his entrance in a high hat, sliding down a coal chute into the basement". Groucho played an "old movie" villain, who "sported a long moustache and was clad in black", while Chico was probably his "chuckling [Italian] henchman". Zeppo portrayed a playboy who was the owner of a nightclub in which most of the action took place, including "a cabaret, [which allowed] the inclusion of a dance number". The final shot showed Groucho "in ball and chain, trudging slowly off into the gloaming". Harpo, in a rare moment of romantic glory, gets the girl in the end. This film is lost.

7.2

Big Trouble in Little China

May 30, 1986

Truck driver Jack Burton gets embroiled in a supernatural battle when his best friend Wang Chi's green-eyed fiancée is kidnapped by henchmen of the sorcerer Lo Pan, who must marry a girl with green eyes in order to return to the human realm.

4.1

Loitering with Intent

Apr 18, 2014

Fledgling screenwriters retreat to a quiet country manor to work on their script, but a constellation of needy characters produces constant interruptions.

6.3

Hellboy Animated: Sword of Storms

Oct 28, 2006

A folklore professor becomes unwittingly possessed by the ancient Japanese demons of Thunder and Lightning. But when The Bureau of Paranormal Research & Defense dispatches a team of agents to investigate, a cursed samurai sword sends Hellboy to a supernatural dimension of ghosts, monsters, and feudal mayhem. Now while pyrokinetic Liz Sherman and fishboy Abe Sapien battle one very pissed-off dragon, a lost and cranky Hellboy must find his way home.

6.7

Slacker

Jul 5, 1991

Austin, Texas, is an Eden for the young and unambitious, from the enthusiastically eccentric to the dangerously apathetic. Here, the nobly lazy can eschew responsibility in favor of nursing their esoteric obsessions. The locals include a backseat philosopher who passionately expounds on his dream theories to a seemingly comatose cabbie, a young woman who tries to hawk Madonna's Pap test to anyone who will listen and a kindly old anarchist looking for recruits.

7.6

Paradise Lost: The Child Murders at Robin Hood Hills

Dec 3, 1996

A horrific triple child murder leads to an indictment and trial of three nonconformist boys based on questionable evidence.

6.7

Fire in the Sky

Mar 12, 1993

After clearing brush for the government, a group of men return to town claiming their friend was abducted their friend. Despite no apparent motive or evidence of foul play, no-one believes their story and his disappearance is treated as murder.

4.8

Write to Kill

Nov 20, 1991

In this thriller, Jamie Sanford is murdered by a group of counterfeiters when he attempts to expose them in order to secure an early parole. However, when aspiring writer Clark learns of his brothers death, he sets out to exact revenge and bring the guilty to justice while being framed for his brothers murder.

6.8

The Night Stalker

Jan 11, 1972

Wisecracking reporter Carl Kolchak investigates a string of murders in Las Vegas and suspects the culprit is a vampire. His editor thinks he's crazy and the police think he's a nuisance, so Kolchak takes matters into his own hands.

7.2

Clue

Dec 13, 1985

Clue finds six colorful dinner guests gathered at the mansion of their host, Mr. Boddy -- who turns up dead after his secret is exposed: He was blackmailing all of them. With the killer among them, the guests and Boddy's chatty butler must suss out the culprit before the body count rises.

5.0

Deadline for Murder: From the Files of Edna Buchanan

May 8, 1995

Inspired by the the life of Pulitzer Prize-winning, Miami-based journalist, Edna Buchanan, who investigates the murder of a man with ties to the Miami mafia.

7.3

A Matter of Loaf and Death

Dec 26, 2008

Wallace and Gromit open a bakery, accidentally getting tied up with a murder mystery in the process. But when Wallace falls in love, Gromit is left to solve the case by himself.