This
story is one of our favorites as it is action packed, has some interesting
characters and a lot of human interest. The property was purchased several
years after it was published in 1966, by Raystar Productions (formed by
successful producer, Ray Stark). Regrettably, they never moved past writing a
script, for reasons totally unknown to us or our agents. We believe that the rights to the property may have reverted
to us.
The plot:
Bernie staggers off the airplane from Honolulu, a lei around his neck and blood
seeping from the wound in his chest. He stumbles to the terminal gift shop, and
demands the cashier point him to a payphone. . He
surreptitiously inserts a small piece of paper into the slot of a ceramic piggy
bank on display. As his life seeps away, Bernie calls Harry Fairchild, his old
fraternity brother. Dying or not, he has a job to do.
Harry is
a playboy, the scion of an oil-rich family known throughout California. Bernie
was in Honolulu working for Harry’s father, and he has a message to give the
old man before he expires. Baffled, Harry races to the airport, arriving just
as Bernie is being taken to the hospital, where he dies on the operating table.
Somehow Harry’s father is mixed up in the murder, and Harry is going to find
out how, even if it means risking a knife to his own gut.
"At the
core of the suspense is the fate of a little girl of seven, who has never known
her biological father, widowed and ailing, who has also sired the hero and his
two very successful brothers (a physician and the Governor of his state). While
the plot has its complications, it essentially revolves about the quest by
different groups to find the youngster before the other group does. Murder,
mayhem and intrigue are the tools of the nasty side, with both members of the
Romantic Pair, being at different times, searchers and victims of the hostility
of the other group."*
Harry
befriends the gift shop worker and gets her to go along on several trips to
track down the mystery. Not surprising, a little romance seems inevitable.
We always envisioned a movie that, with many wild trips to multiple
locations in Europe and the US involving a series of characters, would make a
wonderful saga involving well-known actors in cameo performances, ala Around the World in 80 Days.
Personal note of coincidence: Many years later, Jerry and his wife
found themselves managing a gift shop at their local performing arts center.
*Review on Amazon: 5.0 out of 5 stars One of the Best of Her Generation
Reviewed in the United States on April 30, 2013
