It was three in the morning and I was lying there wide awake, so I turned on the TV and started watching Shamus with Burt Reynolds as a private detective.
The opening scene was shockingly violent. Criminals fire a flame thrower through a skylight and burn two people to death, then, wearing one of those suits firefighters wear, one of them goes into the burning room and steals a safe.
This was based on a book by Ed McBain (Evan Hunter) who also wrote the book the movie Fuzz was based on, and if I remember correctly they set fire to people in that movie, too.
Burt Reynolds is hired to find some stolen diamonds. His investigation consists primarily of fight scenes. He attacks a couple of guys, beats information out of them. They actually give in pretty easily.
This surprised me because it was based on one of McBain's 87th Precinct novels which I thought were police procedurals trying to cash in on the popularity of Dragnet in the 1950's. Another book in that series was King's Ransom which Kurosawa's High & Low was based on.
I watched the first 38 minutes. It's possible it got really good after that but I'll never know. I turned it off after Burt Reynolds goes with his cop friend to see a mafia boss who insists that they eat Italian food with him as he gives them information about the case.
They made it clear that Burt Reynolds did most of his own stunts. He was supposed to be down and out but he drove what was then a late model Chevy Impala. They stole the bookstore scene from The Big Sleep. Burt Reynolds commits a minor sexual assault--pinches a woman in a crowded restaurant. She finds it charming. He tells a man wearing sunglasses that he looks like a "faggot movie star". He wears a stupid-looking '70's trenchcoat.
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