a little known gem from the 70's

it's fun to immerse oneself in a movie from long ago that probably isn't seen by more than a few people on the entire planet (maybe none?) on a day to day basis. Reading the 'expert' reviews from the time - although most quite favorable - I began to wonder how some came to be considered experts. One panned it for not having enough suspects ... I mean, talk about missing the point of the movie. I found only a couple scenes to be slightly embarrassing: when Wills yelled at the chief's wife to take the handkerchief - to me that would be a deal-breaker as far as ever working with him again. And the letter thru the mail slot scene - very gripping, but the chief showed up literally 5 seconds later (didn't see the perpetrator? and followed that goof by saying the somewhat laughable line to his wife "hun, why'd you lock the door?" - you mean they never locked doors at night in the 70's).

I wonder if it was a motif of movies in the 70's to end with a (usually verbal) 'shocking' twist, I can recall several - in this case it was definitely a fitting touch to clarify (or did it?) 90 minutes of perplexing events. Was Wills controlling the killer (quite a feat in itself) or truly clairvoyant? One is left unsure, and since this was merely based on true events, dramatic license was taken to the extreme to create an ending that will make you smile.

Somewhat oddly, Joel Grey's prior film role was a movie titled "Man on a String" - maybe he was destined to play this part.