As they often did, the Gablers let Alfie out of his cage during Sunday's picnic to allow him a taste of freedom.
When one of the leading ladies of the evening turns up dead, Earp and Mix are plunged into a web of intrigue that leads to the doorstep of studio head Alfie Alperin (Malcolm McDowell), once a silent movie clown.
The movie, adapted by Russell and directed by Lewis Gilbert ("Alfie," "Educating Rita"), supplies other actors, including Tom Conti as a kind of laidback Zorba.