Travis McGee (Rod Taylor) and Meyer (Theodore Bikel) are fishing under a bridge one night when a girl plunges into the water. Travis jumps into the water and swims down to assist her only to find an 80 lbs. weight tied to her foot. After releasing her anchor, he deposits her in the boat. Taking her back to his houseboat, The Busted Flush, Travis is unable to get much information from her. She finally says her name is Vangie (Suzy Kendall), which is short for Evangeline. It is clear she feels guilt and maybe even thinks she deserved to get tossed to her death, but she won't explain. After a couple of days together, she leaves to get money from her apartment. When Vangie doesn't return, McGee goes in search of her and the man who tossed her into the sea to drown.
The main villain is Terry (William Smith), a toe-headed body builder with a nasty temper. He's been using beautiful blondes to fleece wealthy old men on cruise ships. He has another blonde (Ahna Capri) still working for him as well as another body builder, Griff (Robert Phillips). Though McGee has enough evidence to put the police onto Terry, he is determined to see the case through himself. This involves some bareknuckle brawls.
The movie has a made-for-TV feel to it. The blood looks phony, some of the makeup is laughably cheap, and the cinematography is bland. This was meant to spawn a series of Travis McGee movies but the box office dictated against. One point of interest was the cameo appearance of Jane Russell who played a wealthy widow on a neighboring houseboat.
Just okay.
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