Kirk Douglas is Schuyler, a hard-boiled police detective who gets charges of police brutality bought against him, which made him a hero in 1968 but would make him not such a great guy in 2021. Nevertheless, Eli Wallach hires him to protect Rena Westabrook, who is played by Sylva Koscina, who was in Deadlier Than the Male; Lisa and the Devil; So Sweet, So Dead and more).

Of course, the way these things work, Schuyler falls for Westabrook and all the twists, turns and complications make this anything but boring.

This movie has a great supporting cast, including actor/singer/director Martyn Green, Sharon Farrell (It’s Alive), Ruth White (No Way to Treat a Lady), William Roerick (The Wasp Woman), Dolph Sweet (TV’s Gimme a Break!) Dana Eclair (MacGyver) and Ali MacGraw making her film debut in a blink and you might miss it appearance.

Director David Lowell Rich is always dependable, a made for TV director of some renown in my universe. He made Satan’s School for Girls, Eye of the Cat, The Horror at 37,000 Feet, SST Death Flight and The Concorde … Airport ’79, which are all the kinds of movies that I enjoy.

The new Kino Lorber blu ray of A Lovely Way to Die comes with trailers and audio commentary by film historians Howard S. Berger and Steve Mitchell. Kino has been releasing some interesting films as of late and this is just another example.