Word: ventura
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: during 1970-1979
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...burbling sounds of water in the fiber-glass and redwood hot tub that had been installed in their backyard. So he knocked again. Finally, when no one responded, he summoned help. The police found the LaRozas floating in the water-dead. Though detectives first suspected a double suicide, the Ventura County medical examiner, Dr. Donald Kornblum, concluded otherwise: "Quite simply, they died of hyperthermia, or heatstroke. The spa was just...
...Ventura, Calif...
...film opens as the first of a series of corrupt judges is murdered in a small city. More judges are murdered in nearby towns and Inspector Rogas, a shrewd and tough police detective (played by Lino Ventura) is called in on the case to try to put together the pieces of the puzzle. At first Rogas suspects a wrongly convicted pharmacist seeking revenge on his accusers. A boyhood friend of Rogas who is now a writer for a Communist newspaper suggests that conspiratorial political machinations might be involved in the murders, but Rogas dismisses the idea...
There are several fine acting performances in this film--most notably Ventura's as the cool, savvy inspector. Ventura has a striking physical presence which he uses well to convey the grave sense of urgency that dominates the picture. His ability to keep his cool contrasts effectively with the surrounding madness. Fernando Rey as the pragmatic Minister of Justice and Max Von Sydow as the fanatically authoritarian Chief Justice also play their roles convincingly...
...have been picked for the task because she wrote long, favorable reviews of his books. It seems more likely that impenetrable discretion won her the job. Gardner was clearly a very eccentric man, an upstart as a boy in California, a brazen and unorthodox young lawyer in Ventura County, Calif. Many of Mason's more bizarre tactics resembled his creator's. In the most famous, Gardner sprang a group of Chinese from gambling charges by substituting other Chinese at the addresses where they were to be picked up; the local prosecutors could not tell the difference...