DAVID JANSSEN FAKES HIS OWN DEATH TO ESCAPE HIS WIFE AND PURSUE A BLACKJACK CARD COUNTING SCHEME, MEANWHILE ALLEN GARFIELD IS ON HIS TAIL IN "NOWHERE TO RUN" (TV 1978)

 

An outstanding MTM (Mary Tyler Moore) production shot in San Francisco, Reno and Las Vegas, David Jenssen stars as a disgruntled husband who slowly and methodically creates a new identity for himself to fake his death while developing and pursuing his own blackjack card-counting system. His wife (Stephanie Powers) hires a private eye (Allen Garfield in what may be his best performance next to The Conversation) to follow him but Janssen discovers him and turns him into a double agent. 

The location filming is flat out awesome and we didn't mention that the ever-sexy Linda Evans has a small part in this as well rocking out a white see-through blouse of the era. The story, based on a 1976 novel is enthralling and Janssen is just perfect. One of the best TV movies of the late '70's, unfortunately obscure and very hard to find, the only online complete version I could find is below. The film has never been released on either VHS or DVD. 2.75 stars/2.75