BY LEE PFEIFFER
The Warner Archive is mining its cache of old TV movies to release as burn-to-order DVDs. In general, this is a welcome development as it gives new life to sometimes worthy productions that have been virtually unseen for many years. Some of the fare is rather tepid, however, as evidenced by the release of The Girl in the Empty Grave, a 1977 mystery starring Andy Griffith. I'm second to none in my admiration for Griffith's talents as both a comedic and dramatic actor, but here he seems to be slumming and capitalizing too obviously on his Mayberry sheriff image. He plays another small town lawman, Abel Marsh (Griffith had introduced the character in a previous TV movie), who presides over a sleepy, picturesque mountain hamlet in the California high country. (The film was shot near Big Bear Lake at the San Bernadino National Forest). He's surrounded by a bunch of lovable eccentrics right out of the Mayberry playbook, including a rather goofy deputy (James Cromwell, believe it or not, in an early career role.) Like his Andy Taylor alter ego from his famed sitcom, Abel doesn't feel its necessary to wear a gun while dealing with the humdrum routine matters that go on in town. One day, however, his deputy tells him that a strange thing has occurred concerning a young woman who died years ago in a tragic car accident. Seems the deputy saw her drive through town earlier that morning. Abel dismisses the sighting as absurd- until he catches a glimpse of the same girl speeding through town later in the day. This spawns an investigation that has Abel interview the "dead" girl's parents, both of whom reiterate that she did indeed die in the car accident. Things get murkier, however, when the couple end up murdered. Before long, Abel has to break his gun out of mothballs as he becomes involved in deadly cat and mouse games and a potentially deadly car chase.
The rather lackluster plot seems cobbled together just so everyone could spend a few weeks justifying a stay in some beautiful mountain country. The direction by Lou Antonio is workmanlike but unremarkable and neither he or the screenwriters fully capitalize on Griffith's considerable talents. The film ambles to a confusing and not very satisfying conclusion. The Girl in the Empty Grave reminds us that not ALL old TV movies were as impressive as we remember them being.
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