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Darker Than Amber, directed by Robert Clouse, written by John D. MacDonald and Ed Waters, from MacDonald's 1966 novel, opens in New York. Rod Taylor is Travis McGee, a tough-as-nails salvage consultant cum private eye whose investigation into the murder of a young woman leads him to a cruise ship where a prostitution ring has set up shop preying on wealthy men. Though it’s a box-office disappointment, the film’s climactic set-piece, an extraordinarily ferocious, purportedly real, knock-down, drag-out, bare knuckle fight between Taylor’s McGee and William Smith’s deranged killer, has attracted a richly deserved cult following. Also starring Suzy Kendall, Theodore Bikel, and one-time sex symbol Jane Russell in her final screen appearance.
