Help me identify this (possibly made-for-TV) movie

Cafe Society
1

I saw this on CBS Late Night (I think) in mid-June 1975. It starred someone who was very well-known at the time, but I can’t remember who (I want to say Dean Martin or Roger Smith, but I don’t think it was either one). To the best of my recollection:

It’s about a really, really down-on-his-luck private eye who’s been reduced to living out of his office, which is an absolute pit.

He’s asleep on the couch when the phone rings. Someone is calling with the chance to handle a BIG CASE! The private eye starts changing his clothes to go out and meet the caller. He takes off one dirty sock and flings it aside; it sticks to the wall.

Later on, in the dead of night, he has to get rid of a stiff (a dead mobster?). Just as he’s putting the body into the passenger’s seat of his convertible, a cop car comes along and shines its spotlight on him. He calls out to an imaginary buddy “Don’t worry __, I’ll get him home alright!” Then he turns to the cop and says something like “Oh, hello, officer. Wow, my friend here is really drunk! Ha, ha!” He actually gets away with the ploy and drives off.

That’s all I remember. Does it ring any bells?

2

Dunno. There was a Matt Helm TV series with Tony Fransciosa, maybe that’s why you think it might be Dean Martin?

That’s all I got. Harry-O lived in a camper on the beach didn’t he? Rockfords place was pretty grimy too.

3

Also, “The Dead Don’t Die” has dead mobsters I think…though they come back to life.

4

Thanks; I checked out all three of these possibilities and none of them seem to fit what I remember. I wish I could get a copy of TV Guide for the week of 15–22 June 1975. :frowning:

5

Sounds familiar. I remember when they started playing those late night movies, some were made for TV, some just never got a theater release. Used to be you could call TV Guide and they’d look that up for you, but they were bought out and when I emailed them about the Al Traina thing they never responded.

6

eBay has several tv channel guides for 1975, including one for the week of June 21-27 and one for the week before.

7

The Big Fix, with Richard Dreyfuss?

8

I remember the date so well because I was watching it with my girlfriend, who had just celebrated her birthday on 16 June. Unfortunately, I can’t remember the exact day of the week it was on TV.

If you saw it, you would remember the sock sticking to the wall if nothing else. It was a real “Whoa!” moment, and we were both lying on the floor laughing.

9

Nope, 1978. Too late!

10

Here’s a list of the CBS Late Movie(s) for June, 1975

  1. Jun 02 1975 A War of Children (1972)
  2. Jun 03 1975 Gunn (1967)
  3. Jun 04 1975 They Ran for Their Lives (1969)
  4. Jun 05 1975 Three Bullets for a Long Gun (1973)
  5. Jun 06 1975 Duel of the Titans (1963)
  6. Jun 09 1975 The Poppy Is Also a Flower (1966)
  7. Jun 10 1975 The Vatican Affair (1969)
  8. Jun 11 1975 Gold of the Seven Saints (1961)
  9. Jun 12 1975 Murder, She Said (1962)
  10. Jun 13 1975 The Undefeated (1970)
  11. Jun 16 1975 The Woman Who Wouldn’t Die (1965)
  12. Jun 17 1975 Heaven with a Gun (1969)
  13. Jun 18 1975 Rogues’ Gallery (1968)
  14. Jun 19 1975 Second Chance (1971)
  15. Jun 20 1975 A Severed Head (1971)
  16. Jun 23 1975 The Sandpiper (1965)
  17. Jun 24 1975 Soul Soldier (1969)
  18. Jun 25 1975 To the Shores of Hell (1965)
  19. Jun 26 1975 Judith (1966)
  20. Jun 27 1975 The Last Rebel (1971)
  21. Jun 30 1975 The Seven Faces of Dr. Lao (1964)

“Rogue’s Gallery” looks close to what you’re looking for.
Here’s the entire list from 1972 on.

11

That must be it! I’ll see if I can find it on the Internet. So Roger Smith was in it after all; I thought 1968 was a bit too early for it to be the film I was looking for.

Thanks a lot! This is a really good memory for me, and I was telling my daughter about it just this morning. :o