''P.J.'' (UK re-release title: ''New Face in Hell'') is a 1968 American

neo noir Neo-noir is a revival of film noir, a genre that had originally flourished during the post-World War II era in the United Statesroughly from 1940 to 1960. The French term, ''film noir'', translates literally to English as "black film", indicating s ...

mystery film directed by John Guillermin and starring George Peppard.

Plot

New York City private eye P.J. (Peter Joseph) Detweiler needs the work, so he accepts an offer to be a bodyguard to protect Maureen Preble, the mistress of shady millionaire William Orbison. Orbison takes the family to the Bahamas, where a romantic attachment between P.J. and the married Maureen seems to be growing. Orbison's business partner, Grenoble, is shot dead and P.J. is arrested by the police. It becomes clear to P.J. that he has been set up by the Orbisons, who wanted to rid themselves of Grenoble and needed a fall guy. P.J. is released by the authorities and makes it back to New York, where he confronts the masterminds of the plot. About all he can do is stand by as Orbison and his mistress end up doing away with one another.

Cast

* George Peppard as P.J. Detweiler *

Raymond Burr Raymond William Stacy Burr (May 21, 1917September 12, 1993) was a Canadian actor known for his lengthy Hollywood film career and his title roles in television dramas ''Perry Mason'' and '' Ironside''. Burr's early acting career included roles ...

as William Orbison *

Gayle Hunnicutt Gayle Jenkins, Lady Jenkins (''née'' Hunnicutt; born February 6, 1943) is an American retired film, television and stage actress. She has made more than 30 film appearances. Early life and education The daughter of Colonel Sam Lloyd Hunnicut ...

as Maureen Preble * Brock Peters as Waterpark * Wilfrid Hyde-White as Billings Browne * Jason Evers as Jason Grenoble *

Coleen Gray Coleen Gray (born Doris Bernice Jensen; October 23, 1922 – August 3, 2015) was an American actress. She was best known for her roles in the films '' Nightmare Alley'' (1947), '' Red River'' (1948), and Stanley Kubrick's '' The Killing'' ( ...

as Betty Orbison * Susan Saint James as Linette Orbison *

Severn Darden Severn Teakle Darden Jr. (November 9, 1929 – May 27, 1995) was an American comedian and actor, and a founding member of The Second City Chicago-based comedy troupe as well as its predecessor, the Compass Players. He is known from his film appe ...

as Shelton Quell * Jane Van Duser as Elinor Silene (as H. Jane Van Duser) * George Furth as Sonny Silene * Barbara Dana as Lita * Herb Edelman as Charlie (as Herbert Edelman) * John Qualen as Poppa *

Bert Freed Bert Freed (November 3, 1919 – August 2, 1994) was an American character actor, voice-over actor, and the first actor to portray Detective Columbo. Life and career Born and raised in the Bronx, New York, Freed began acting while attending P ...

as Police Lieutenant * Ken Lynch as Thorson *

Jim Boles Jim Boles (February 28, 1914 – May 26, 1977) was an American actor. He appeared in the films ''The Tattooed Stranger'', '' The Man with My Face'', ''Naked in the Sun'', '' Fluffy'', '' The Ghost and Mr. Chicken'', '' The Trouble with Angels'', ...

as Landlord's Agent * Arte Johnson as Jackie * King Charles MacNiles as Calypso Singer

Production

The film was originally called ''Criss Cross''. Peppard's casting was announced in November 1966. John Guillermin agreed to direct shortly afterwards. In January 1967,

was cast as the female lead. She made the film under a non exclusive two-picture deal with Universal. Filming started in January 1967. It was reported that Peppard's earnings for four films he made for Universal—this, ''

Tobruk Tobruk or Tobruck (; grc, Ἀντίπυργος, ''Antipyrgos''; la, Antipyrgus; it, Tobruch; ar, طبرق, Tubruq ''Ṭubruq''; also transliterated as ''Tobruch'' and ''Tubruk'') is a port city on Libya's eastern Mediterranean coast, near th ...

'', '' Rough Night in Jericho'' and ''

What's So Bad About Feeling Good? ''What's So Bad About Feeling Good?'' is a 1968 American comedy film directed by George Seaton and starring George Peppard and Mary Tyler Moore. The film was a box office disappointment. Plot Pete (George Peppard) is a former advertising exec ...

''—came to $1.6 million plus percentages.

and Peppard purportedly clashed at first but then got along. The film's title was changed to ''New Face in Hell'' then in September 1967, the title was changed from ''New Face in Hell'' to ''PJ''.

Reception

The ''Chicago Tribune'' called it "routine".Clifford, Terry. "'P. J.'--Routine Private Eyeful", ''Chicago Tribune'', February 12, 1968: p. b-17. The ''New York Times'' called it "fun". A reviewer for ''Filmink'' wrote ''" he filmseems to have been made with one eye on being a new ''

Harper Harper may refer to: Names * Harper (name), a surname and given name Places ;in Canada * Harper Islands, Nunavut *Harper, Prince Edward Island ;In the United States *Harper, former name of Costa Mesa, California in Orange County * Harper, Il ...

'' (1966) – only it doesn’t have

Ross MacDonald Ross Macdonald was the main pseudonym used by the American-Canadian writer of crime fiction Kenneth Millar (; December 13, 1915 – July 11, 1983). He is best known for his series of hardboiled novels set in Southern California and featur ...

William Goldman William Goldman (August 12, 1931 – November 16, 2018) was an American novelist, playwright, and screenwriter. He first came to prominence in the 1950s as a novelist before turning to screenwriting. He won Academy Awards for his screenplays '' ...

, an all star cast or

Paul Newman Paul Leonard Newman (January 26, 1925 – September 26, 2008) was an American actor, film director, race car driver, philanthropist, and entrepreneur. He was the recipient of numerous awards, including an Academy Award, a BAFTA Award, three ...

... George Peppard is an ideal private eye but the film seems unsure how tough or comic to make his character – one minute he’s a clown, the next a smart arse, the next a tough guy, the next someone who gets beaten up by patrons of a leather bar."''

Home media

Kino Lorber Kino Lorber is an international film distribution company based in New York City. Founded in 1977, it was originally known as Kino International until it was acquired by and merged into Lorber HT Digital in 2009. It specializes in art house films, ...

released this film in North America on

DVD The DVD (common abbreviation for Digital Video Disc or Digital Versatile Disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any kin ...

and

Blu-ray The Blu-ray Disc (BD), often known simply as Blu-ray, is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 2005 and released on June 20, 2006 worldwide. It is designed to supersede the DVD format, and capable of sto ...

on October 6, 2020.

References

External links

* * * {{John Guillermin 1968 films 1960s mystery films American detective films American mystery films Films directed by John Guillermin Films scored by Neal Hefti Films set in New York City Films set in the Bahamas Films shot in New York City Universal Pictures films 1960s English-language films 1960s American films