The Secret of the Purple Reef

After Robert Christopher and his ship mysteriously disappear in the Caribbean, his two sons, the older Mark (Jeff Richards) and Dean (Richard Chamberlain), search for clues to clear their father’s name of any wrong doing with the insurance company. Since there is no reason why their father’s boat should have gone down in calm seas, the brothers along with their father’s elderly black friend Tobias (Robert Earle) suspect foul play. That leads them to the suspicious heavy-handed sleaze Tom Weber (Peter Falk), owner of the Dagger, who threatens them with his three goons (the goons are also brothers) to go away and not investigate further.

The trio travel to St. Kitts, where the engineer on the Dagger, an old drunk with a shady past, Ashby (Terence de Marney), is hiding. He has secrets to reveal about Weber and his part in causing the disappearance and he has a daughter named Rue Amboy (Margia Dean) who owns a club in town and is partners with her lover Weber. —Dennis Schwartz