They Call It Murder

They Call It Murder is a 1971 American television film directed by Walter Grauman and starring Jim Hutton.

They Call It Murder
Based on	The D.A. Draws a Circle and characters by Erle Stanley Gardner
Written by	Sam Rolfe
Directed by	Walter Grauman
Starring	Jim Hutton Leslie Nielsen Ed Asner Jessica Walter Jo Ann Pflug Míriam Colón Robert J. Wilke William Elliott Carmen Mathews
Music by	Robert Drasnin
Country of origin	United States
Original language	English
Production
Running time	95 minutes
Production companies	Paisano Productions in association with 20th Century Fox Television
Original release
Network	NBC
Release	December 17, 1971 (1971-12-17)

Production

They Call It Murder is a two-hour television film produced by Paisano Productions in association with 20th Century Fox. It was a pilot for a proposed TV movie series based on characters created by Erle Stanley Gardner, who edited the script^[1] by Sam Rolfe. Walter Grauman directed; Cornwell Jackson was executive producer. The film is loosely based on Gardner's 1939 novel The D.A. Draws a Circle.^[2]

The film went into production in 1969 and was completed February 9, 1970.^[1] Jim Hutton stars as Doug Selby, district attorney of a small town outside Los Angeles.^[3]

They Call It Murder was first presented December 17, 1971, on NBC.^[1] Gardner had died by the time the film finally was given its world premiere. Paisano Productions had worked to launch a Doug Selby series for six years, while its series Perry Mason was in its prime.^[4] No series materialized, and this TV movie marks Selby's sole screen adaptation.^[2]

Cast

• Jim Hutton as Doug Selby, D.A.
• Lloyd Bochner as A.B. Carr
• Jo Ann Pflug as Sylvia Martin
• Robert J. Wilke as Sheriff Rex Brandon
• Edward Asner as Chief Otto Larkin
• Bill Elliott as Deputy Bob Terry
• Míriam Colón as Anita Nogales
• Jessica Walter as Jane Antrim
• Carmen Mathews as Doris Kane
• Leslie Nielsen as Frank Antrim
• Nita Talbot as Rona Corbin
• Vaughn Taylor as Dr. Harry Marshall
• Vic Tayback as Jeff Poland
• Harry Townes as Dr. Garnett
• Michael Pataki as Pete Cardiff
• Helen Kleeb as Ellen Saxe
• Valentin de Vargas as Alex Cordoba
• Dan White as Judge Faraday
• Norman Burton as the Movie Director