The Woman Hunter

I found this movie in a dollar bin which was actually on sale 10 for a buck and figured 'what the hell'. I usually don't like to buy those because the movies are mostly crap and the picture and sound quality is also mostly crap. But I was always a Jeannie fan so. . . While the plot is a little slow and a bit (much less than I thought it would be) dated, Barbara Eden doesn't fail to make it somewhat interesting. It's about a wealthy woman who is trying to recover from a dark incident in her past which has resulted in a precarious emotional state. Then there's the storyline of rich women being bumped off in various parts of the world. Stuart Whitman plays a mysterious character and Robert Vaughn plays her cold, distant, workaholic husband. The ending is a surprise ending and I'm probably the only viewer who didn't see it coming.

Someone on here made a disparaging comment about Stuart Whitman's pot belly and it made me think. I've been watching quite a few 70's movies and TV shows lately and have noticed how actors in those days and prior didn't seem to try to be so physically perfect the way they do now. They had pot bellies, balding heads, crooked stained teeth and (omg!) wrinkles--wrinkles when they were actually old and **should** have winkles! No botox, no "Hair Club For Men", no teeth bleaching. People were **real**. That reviewer was offended by SW's belly. I found it comforting.

Not a bad little 70's made-for-TV flick. A bit better than the usual dollar bin crap. Oh, and in the middle of the movie, Barbara Eden suddenly breaks into this cool and sexy dance for absolutely no reason. . .hence my review heading.

Barbara Eden stars as a woman named "Dina Hunter" who has just inherited a fortune due to the death of her father. Because she was accidentally involved in the death, her husband "Jerry Hunter" (Robert Vaughn) accompanies her to Acapulco so that she can recover both mentally and emotionally. While there she meets a man named "Paul Carter" (Stuart Whitman) who she believes is a murderous jewel thief intent on killing her and taking her jewelry. Now, considering the presence of accomplished actors like Robert Vaughn and Stuart Whitman one would think that their mere presence would be able to lift this film up from mediocrity. Sadly, that is not the case as this "made for television" movie fails to capitalize on their abilities. Fortunately, Barbara Eden manages to keep the film from completely crashing due to her beauty and charm. Even so, the lack of action and suspense is definitely noticeable and the final product suffers accordingly. Somewhat disappointing.

This was like a dull television show. I would hope that when a director looks at a script, he or she would make an effort to produce something that teaches or delights or does something to make the effort worthwhile. There is really nothing here. Barbara Eden is honeymooning with Robert Vaughn. He seems only interested in business. She has recently lost her first husband in a terrible accident. There have been some recent jewel thefts and a woman has been murdered. Barbara becomes attracted to a handsome young artist, and he becomes the murder suspect. There are efforts made to gaslight Barbara, but she knows what she knows. The movie grinds along to a contrived conclusion. We do get to see Barbara in all kinds of outfits. It's really not worth an hour and a half of your time.

Stuart Whitman is stalking Barbara Eden. She's an heiress married to Robert Vaughan, and she's just gotten out of the hospital, so they take a vacation in Mexico, where Larry Storch tells stories at night, and Whitman is their next-door neighbor. He is a painter, so after meeting Eden (whose character is named Dina Hunter; the Hunter woman, get it) on the beach, and catching her in a bikini, he offers to paint her portrait. Then he 'runs into' Vaughan in town, and sticks himself in the middle of their lives. As Miss Eden grows more and more uneasy, Vaughan tries to remember where he's seen Whitman before. Well, the man's career was shrinking in prominence.

It's a TV movie of the 'cozy mystery' variety that now seems to run all the time on the Lifetime cable channel. Director Bernie Kowalski does a decent job with his highly professional cast and standard camerawork.It's nice to see Vaughan play a decent guy, and Miss Eden in a bikini. It looks like editor Melvin Shapiro had to leave the end to a couple of subplots on the cutting room floor.

If your main goal in life is to watch old films with LOTS of footage of the beautiful Barbara Eden wearing bikinis, fashionable clothes and traipsing about Mexico, then I have a film for you! One reviewer gave this very ordinary film a 10--mostly because this was what they were looking for in a movie! Clearly, this is among their favorite films! However, for most viewers this isn't really enough reason to recommend "The Woman Hunter"--an at best ordinary made for TV film from the 1970s. While Miss Eden IS radiant here, some of her other work of this period (such as the creepy made for TV film, "The Stranger Within") is much better.

Eden plays Dina Hunter--a super-rich heiress who is emotionally ill following a tragic accident. Not helping much is her husband, Jerry (Robert Vaughn)--a man who seems more interested in business than spending time with his sexy wife on a Mexico vacation. During this time, a stranger, Paul Carter (Stuart Whitman) obviously deliberately ingratiates himself with the family and soon Dina realizes this was no accident. What follows is mildly interesting at times, but too often it just seems very rushed and sloppy. Even the surprising twist at the end doesn't save the film because it's handled VERY poorly--ending with an impossibly well-aimed rock and an explosion that seems to come out of no where. All in all, the film had some decent ideas but comes off as very superficial and silly.