See China and Die
{{Infobox television
| image = See China and Die.jpg
| image_size =
| genre = Crime
Drama
| caption =
| director = Larry Cohen
| executive_producer =
| producer = Larry Cohen
Hal Schaffel
| writer = Larry Cohen
| narrated =
| starring = Esther Rolle
Kene Holliday
| music = Joey Levine and Chris Palmaro
| cinematography = Paul Glickman
| editor = Armond Lebowitz
| company = Big Hit Productions
| released = {{Start date|1981|01|09}}
| network = NBC
| runtime = 86 minutes
| country = United States
| language = English
| budget =
}}
See China and Die (released in Europe as Hearsay) is a 1981 television film written, produced and directed by Larry Cohen.
Premise
A maid who reads detective stories finds herself embroiled in a real life mystery involving her dead boss and a mysterious statue he brought back from China. She acts as an amateur sleuth to solve the murder of her employer.{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kW8j6sHvrewC&pg=PA91|title=Encyclopedia of Television Film Directors|first=Jerry|last=Roberts|date=5 June 2009|publisher=Scarecrow Press|isbn=9780810863781|via=Google Books}}
Cast
- Esther Rolle as Momma Sykes{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=wNIzAQAAIAAJ&pg=PA293|title=Encyclopedia of African American Actresses in Film and Television|first=Bob|last=McCann|date=27 October 2018|publisher=McFarland & Company|isbn=9780786437900|via=Google Books}}
- Kene Holliday as Sgt. Alvin Sykes
- Frank Converse as Tom Hackman
- Paul Dooley as Ames Prescott
- Andrew Duggan as Edwin Forbes
- Laurence Luckinbill as Dr. Glickman
- Jean Marsh as Sally Hackman
- Fritz Weaver as Poston
- Jane Hitchcock as Ruth
- Claude Brooks as Jessie Sykes
- William Walker II as Andy Sykes
- Miguel Pinero as Gonzalez
- James Dukas as Transplant{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=BH7GCwAAQBAJ&pg=PA121|title=Obituaries in the Performing Arts, 2008: Film, Television, Radio, Theatre, Dance, Music, Cartoons and Pop Culture|first=Harris M. Lentz|last=III|date=17 April 2009|publisher=McFarland|isbn=9780786453849|via=Google Books}}
Production
The film was originally produced as a pilot for a mystery/crime series starring Esther Rolle called Momma the Detective, but the show never materialized.{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-gpNBQAAQBAJ&pg=PA251|title=Larry Cohen: The Radical Allegories of an Independent Filmmaker, rev. ed.|first=Tony|last=Williams|date=18 April 2016|publisher=McFarland|isbn=9781476618197|via=Google Books}}
References
{{reflist}}
External links
- {{IMDb title|0165464}}
{{Larry Cohen}}
Category:1981 television films
Category:Television pilots not picked up as a series
Category:American thriller television films
Category:Films directed by Larry Cohen
Category:Films with screenplays by Larry Cohen
Category:1980s English-language films
Category:English-language thriller films
{{US-tv-thriller-film-stub}}