Anzio

Over the 1950's and 1960's, World War II movies were a dime a dozen hitting theaters. Even with the abundance of movies though, some theaters of war were often ignored, or at least covered less. Case in point? The Italian Campaign as Allied forces took Sicily and then Italy in horrific fighting that claimed thousands and thousands of lives in what some said/say was a waste of manpower. So while 1968's Anzio may not be a good movie, I can't help it. I'm a fan so sue me.

It's early 1944 and the fighting has dragged to a stalemate between Allied and Axis forces along the Monte Cassino line. The Allied forces are planning an invasion in Italy above the fighting as Cassino, intending to land some 70,000 troops north of the fighting at the port of Anzio. Among those landing is a war correspondent, Dick Ennis (Robert Mitchum), who will tag along with an American Ranger battalion (specially-trained infantry) as they hit the beaches. An expected hot landing is anything but...the troops hit the beaches with little to no resistance. There's no German forces for miles. On a patrol into the Italian countryside, Ennis and a corporal from the First Special Service Force, Jack Rabinoff (Peter Falk), discover just how open the countryside is. Back at the Allied beachhead though, no one on the general staff believes them. While the Allies dig in and establish a strong beachhead, the Germans take advantage, assembling a line as deadly as anything the war has seen.

If you're looking for a more detailed description of the Battle of Anzio, check out the Wikipedia page. I'm currently reading Alex Kershaw's The Liberator, an excellent read that explores the fighting in Italy in some detail. What's here in this 1968 war film is a condensed version with some embellishments and names changed. The actual battle of Anzio was a horrific miscalculation on the parts of the Allied commanders who made cautious decisions that ended up costing thousands of lives needlessly in fighting that could have been easily avoided. See? We learned something today!

'Anzio' itself is an interesting mess of a movie. It's from the 1960's, the age of the big, epic war films like The Great Escape, Battle of the Bulge, The Guns of Navarone, a trend that would continue into the 1970's. From director Edward Dmytryk (and Duilio Coletti in whatever the "Italian version" is), 'Anzio' is part of a trend of flicks dubbed Macaroni war movies (instead of spaghetti, get it?!?), films made with mostly Italian backing albeit with smaller budgets. Dino De Laurentiis produced the war film, bringing a respectable budget that's seen in landing shots where landing crafts empty of hundreds of soldiers hitting the beaches. There is a big budget feel (some of the time) as this story develops about one of the most costly battles of WWII. More detail later, but there's also truly odd moments sprinkled throughout, giving Dmytryk's film an off-balanced feel to the proceedings. More later!

Two performances here have always appealed to me, Robert Mitchum as war correspondent Dick Ennis, a character very loosely based on famed writer Ernie Pyle. Interesting tidbit? Mitchum earned an Oscar nomination for his performance in 1945's The Story of G.I. Joe, the story of Ernie Pyle in Italy! Ennis is a frontline guy, always sticking with the troops at the front even when he doesn't have to be. Mitchum treads that fine line between looking worn out and being interested, but that laconic, tired look favors Ennis well. He's sick of war, sick of stupid orders and commands that costs unnecessary lives. A good performance for Mitchum. As for Falk, it is an...interesting performance. His Jack Rabinoff is a SOLDIER. He loves fighting. He's good at it (maybe too good), and his backstory of how he ended up in the First Special Service Force is quite revealing. Again, there's some odd moments, but Falk brings a ton of energy, some humor to the part that's hard not to like.

This quasi-epic war film resorts to more familiar territory in the second half. Following a horrific German ambush, a small group of Rangers, including Ennis and Rabinoff, must get back to their own lines to report what the Allies are about to march into. If it's familiar, so be it. It's more at home. It's more comfortable. Among the survivors, look for Earl Holliman as the capable Sergeant Abe Stimmler, Reni Santoni as Pvt. Movie (always ready with an impression), an underused Mark Damon, Thomas Hunter, Giancarlo Giannini, and Joseph Walsh. In the epic vein, we also get unnecessary cameos from Robert Ryan and Arthur Kennedy with Kennedy at least getting something to do. Ryan is in two scenes, and he only speaks in one! Also look for ever the German, Wolfgang Preiss as Field Marshal Kesselring, the Allies' opposition across the line.

Where 'Anzio' falls in parts is its odd tone and general lack of epic qualities, even though it thinks it is an epic. It is NOT. It's a good, old-fashioned war flick. Simply put, it tries to cover too much ground in 117 minutes. The song that plays over the opening credits, This World is Yours (listen HERE), is awful. Truly out of place. The score itself is hit-and-miss, but when it works, I liked it a lot. As for the tone, this is a story that just refuses to pick one tone and go with it. Is it dark? Is it a light war film? While things are somewhat ironed out (not really), we get a painful scene of Falk's Rabinoff sitting in an ambulance with three prostitutes as he sings "Bye, Bye Blackbird" with them. There's another scene later where he does the same thing. What the hell is going on?!? Don't even get me started about the general combat tactics here either, highly-trained American troops charging into machine gun fire without even raising their weapons or trying to throw a grenade at the nest. Meh, run!!!

Now all that said, I've always liked this movie and held it up on my most recent reviewing. I love the Italian filming locations, especially the shots of Rome. I've always been a big fan of Mitchum and Falk, and even considering some script idiosyncrasies, they're both pretty good here, as is the whole supporting cast. Through all the general craziness and oddness, there's some...oddly charming. The action is harsh, including a late battle between our survivors and four German snipers, and from beginning to end, it is entertaining. It ain't a classic. So be it. It's very entertaining.

Anzio (1968): ***/****
Rewrite of May 2009 review

The Cheap Detective

From a career that spanned six decades, Peter Falk accomplished it all, but he will always be remembered for one specific role, that of rumpled, seemingly frazzled detective Colombo. Lost amidst the great scripts and guest stars is Falk's impeccable comedic timing, usually lost because he played it so freaking straight. The man was an actor but he could have been a comedian. Colombo fans, Falk fans, I highly recommend 1978's The Cheap Detective.

It's 1939 and the world is about to tear itself apart, but working as a longtime private detective in San Francisco, Lou Peckinpaugh (Falk) is just looking to get out alive. He receives a phone call late one night informing him that his partner at the P.I. firm has been murdered and several other people were killed around him. Making it worse? Lou has been having an affair with his partner's wife, Georgia (Marsha Mason), and the cops think Lou might be the killer! They don't have the evidence though to convict him -- yet -- so Lou must figure out who the actual killer is. Later that night he meets a mysterious woman (Madeline Kahn) in his office who needs help finding her missing sister. This woman isn't telling Lou everything he needs to know though, plunging Lou deeper into a world of backstabbing and betrayals, Nazis and smugglers, and everything in between. Hopefully and maybe (just maybe), Lou can make it out innocent and alive.

As I've beaten to death in countless reviews as I continue to serve as a broken record, I like spoofs...when they're handled the right way. Basically in not too heavy-handed, obvious fashion. Mel Brooks was a master of such smart-minded yet incredibly stupid spoofs while others like the seemingly never-ending Scary Movie series just...keep...going. From director Robert Moore and a script from Neil Simon, 'Cheap' is more in the Brooks vein. It is equal parts smart, wicked humor mixed in with stupid, dumb laughs with everything from a subtle line delivery to a perfect site gag. At just 92 minutes, it crackles along at a ridiculously quick pace, scenes coming across as episodic more than joined in any sort of linear fashion. It's one bit and onto the next. No time to sit and catch a breath here!

To spoof, you need something to spoof and 'Cheap' jumps headfirst into film noir mysteries with private detectives, using that as a jumping off point with The Maltese Falcon and Casablanca as story points. So yes, we get entire scenes -- classic, iconic scenes -- absolutely torn to pieces, most of them working in almost effortless fashion. We've got a cheating private detective, a small harem of women who want nothing more than to jump into bed with him, international intrigue, murdering Nazis, shady underworld types, lost love, new love and confusion around every corner. To say there's a story is inaccurate. It instead is those episodic set pieces, deliver the joke and move on, and more less, it's all somewhat kinda sorta related. You don't notice though. There's too much going on -- most of it pretty funny -- to complain.

Peter Falk is the man. I love the guy. He's one of my favorite actors ever, a character actor who never disappointed when given a chance at the spotlight. Here as private detective Lou Peckinpaugh, Falk is clearly having a ball. The entire performance is based off being Humphrey Bogart. Not acting like him, Being him, and Falk hits it out of the home run. The best kind of spoof is a loving one, and Falk loves his source material, nailing his spot-on impression of one of the all-time Hollywood greats. The dialogue, the physical look, the mannerisms, he never hams it up or tries for the laughs. He just gets them with ease. His Lou has ready-made drinks in desk drawers everywhere. When he answers the phone, not sure who's on the other end, he pulls a gun on the phone (Ya know...just in case) and holds it there. Through all the craziness that develops, Falk's steady hand keeps things going.

That's not to say this is a one-man show. Falk often plays straight man to the avalanche of laughs around him, but there's so much talent on display it's ridiculous. Kahn is hysterical (similarly deadpanning all her lines), but she's just the first of the love interests. There's crazy with love Mason, sexed-up Ann-Margret, lounge singer Eileen Brennan (doing a great Lauren Bacall), lost love Louise Fletcher (Ingrid Bergman of Casablanca) and Stockard Chaning as Lou's secretary who just wants to be "thanked" properly. I loved Dom DeLuise as a smelly smuggler (doing Peter Lorre), a perfect John Houseman doing his best Sidney Greenstreet impression, wearing an enormous oversized suit to sell it, So many names here, including Sid Caesar, James Coco, Nicol Williamson, Fernando Lamas, Phil Silvers, Abe Vigoda, Paul Williams, Vic Tayback, David Ogen Steirs, and Scatman Crothers, all getting their chances at their fair share of laughs.

If there's anything flawed here, it was the commitment to the spoof. If that makes any sense I guess. There are a ton of laughs (genuine, out-loud laughs), but the story gets so goofy, feels so disjointed at times, that it loses some of its edge. By the time the end does come along, it comes with one twist after another, bing bang boom in rapid fire. It's still an excellent comedy, but not a true classic. Still recommending it though, especially as a companion piece of sorts with the same director and much of the cast working together in Murder By Death. Not quite on par with that one but still damn funny.

The Cheap Detective (1978): ***/****

Next

So when did it all hit the fan for Nicolas Cage? I'm thinking it was somewhere around 2006 with the all-time classic remake The Wicker Man. He went from an actor who could play quirky roles to a quirky actor who just made (mostly) bad movies. There's been some good ones mixed in but not too many. Here's one of those quasi-duds, 2007's Next.

Working as a mildly successful performer in Las Vegas under the stage name Frank Cadillac, Cris Johnson (Cage) goes about his job and life as quietly as possible. Why exactly? Cris has a special power, one he's trying to keep under wraps. Cris can see two minutes into his own future, knowing exactly what awaits him around every corner and turn. His small-time gambling tendencies have caught the attention of the FBI, including Agent Callie Ferris (Julianne Moore), who wants to use Cris to help stop a terrorist attack. A nuclear bomb is believed to be transported into the U.S. and hopefully Cris can find out where and when it will be used. On the run for a run-in with the FBI in a casino, Cris is trying to figure it all, trying to piece it all together. It may all be connected to a mysterious woman (Jessica Biel) he can see far further into the future than his usual two-minute limit. Can he do it in time with millions of lives at stake?

When this science fiction-ish thriller was released in 2007, my brother-in-law saw the movie and said he liked it. How did he think I'd feel about it? Well, to put it lightly, I wouldn't like it....AT ALL. That recommendation -- or lack of -- helped me steer clear of 'Next' but I guess seven years or so was a long enough wait. This thriller from director Lee Tamahori is loosely based on a short story, The Golden Man, by Philip K. Dick. Is it good? Well, I'm curious to read Dick's short story because as I feel like I write far too often....a whole lot of potential that never really adds up. It's not a long movie, wrapping up nicely in a little under 90 minutes if you take away the closing credits. The biggest flaws come from an overuse of the gimmick, Cris' ability to see into the future. The idea is cool but it adds up the most crippling flaw of all in the finale.

It's Sixth Sense Syndrome again. Movies aren't content anymore to just have a regular old twist ending. It has to be a twist ending that completely comes out of left field with no warning. It doesn't have to make sense. It doesn't have to fit within the rules of what we've been told to this point. If you're going to have a character that can see into the future in a tight time window, so be it. Run with it. Don't adjust on the fly, and if I've got this twisting, steaming pile of an ending remotely figured out, that's exactly what happens here. A cop-out ending, and that is about the worst thing you can do as a writer/producer/director. Grow a pair and stick with an ending. The point here seems to be to completely confuse the viewer and manipulate them into thinking one thing only to have the carpet pulled out from under you. Now that's a way to create favor with your audience! Just an awful ending.

What I brought up earlier in the introduction is that Nicolas Cage has started to play a caricature of himself over recent years. Quirky overall, stilted acting, even more stilted line deliveries, violent, arm-throwing reactions. Maybe the oddest thing about Next? Cage is the least of the movie's concerns. His voiceover narration is a little overdone at times, and his hair looks pretty hair implant(y) but it's an interesting character. I would have loved some more background other than a few passing lines about his growing up, but the Cris character is certainly interesting from the get-go. Now that said, the script does provide Cage countless opportunities to run. Run away, run to someone, run down a mountain. There's just something truly hilarious about Cage running, trying to sprint at least, because he could be the slowest running actor in Hollywood history. He's pumping and pushing...and looks like he's running in quicksand.

The rest of the cast doesn't fare so well. Julianne Moore feels out of place and forced, her FBI agent whiny and worn down. Jessica Biel tries her best with a poorly written character but there just isn't any interest there. Her mystery woman supposedly holds the key to it all, but it amounts to nothing more than a damsel in distress though. Well, that's not completely fair. There's also her in various stages of undress, under a bed sheet, sporting a post-shower towel. That kind of PG-13 rated "nudity." Also look for Thomas Kretschmann as Mr. Smith, the uniquely named and very dull bad guy, Tory Kittles as Moore's FBI agent assistant, Jose Zuniga as a Vegas security chief, and screen/TV legend Peter Falk making an appearance as a friend of Cris. Except he's on-screen for about 85 seconds and then shuffles off. What's the point?

It is a movie that is missing something. We get little to no background for anything from Cris' history or even a remote explanation of his power to the complete lack of reasoning behind this upcoming terrorist attack. MacGuffins are one thing as Alfred Hitchcock proved time and time again, but you've got to draw a line somewhere, don't you? At no point does 'Next' find a rhythm or pacing, and it feels rushed from start to poorly executed finish. Meh, not good, just not good with wasted potential. Steer clear.

Next (2007): * 1/2 /****

Murder by Death

What's more fun than a murder mystery in film and on TV? The people who solve the murder mysteries!!! And no, I'm not talking about police procedurals where police officers follow the clues and catch the crooks. We're talking the out of this world observant and intelligent sleuths and detectives who follow all the minute, excruciating little details and pull theories out of thin air. They certainly get their due in a great spoof from 1976, Murder by Death.

Coming from all around the world, five world-class detectives have been brought together at an isolated country mansion by eccentric recluse Lionel Twain (writer Truman Capote). His goal? Present a murder with little evidence and let his five detectives piece things together. Whoever figures things out and fingers the murderer by dawn will receive a $1 million reward. Who are his contestants of sorts? They include Milo Perrier (James Coco), the whiny Belgian, Sam Diamond (Peter Falk), the tough guy detective, Jessica Marbles (Elsa Lanchester), the very English middle-aged woman, Dick Charleston (David Niven), the gentlemanly, smooth aging detective, and Sidney Wang (Peter Sellers), the pronunciation challenged Chinese detective. Each detective has brought a partner/sidekick/spouse but can any of the manage to solve a seemingly impossible murder mystery?

From director Robert Moore and screenwriter Neil Simon, 'Murder' is a gem in the Whodunnit genre. Throw a bunch of characters together, add in a mystery/murder or something that needs to be solved, and let the fun begin. This is a spoof of the Whodunnit genre, but it's not a stupid spoof, far from it. While the humor is far from high brow laughs, it's snappy, smart and quick. This is a very talented cast assembled here, the actors and actresses playing off each with remarkable ease. It's a quick movie at just 94 minutes, but there are laughs throughout. It was filmed on a mansion set in Burbank Studios, a closed-in, claustrophobic feel to the ever twisting and turning story. Self-contained and the better for it.

You really just can't go wrong with the sick amount of talent brought together here in the cast. Each detective is based off a classic literature character (Perrior = Hercules Poirot, Diamond = Sam Spade, Marbles = Miss Marple, Charleston = Nick Charles/The Thin Man, and Wang = Charlie Chan), each given their quirky personality traits that bring it all together nicely. Coco's Perrier is dying of starvation -- or so he believes -- as the mystery develops, Diamond does his best Humphrey Bogart impression throughout, Marbles quirky, mousy and excited, Charleston the upper class, smooth-talking Englishman, and Wang the master of logic and observation (with a touch of political incorrectness thrown in for good measure). It would be easy to see any/all of these characters getting their own movie, but when assembled together, we're talking impeccable chemistry with some sublimely perfect laughs.

Improving on the talent brought together is that each character is given a sidekick of some sort, a spouse, child, whatever. More cast listing!!! The recently departed Eileen Brennan plays Tess Skeffington, Sam's secretary and mistress, Maggie Smith plays Nora Charleston, Dick's longtime and loving wife, Estelle Windood as Miss Marple's wheelchair bound and ancient nurse, James Cromwell as Marcel, Perrier's very French chauffeur and Richard Narita as Willy, Wang's adopted Japanese son.

Oh, there's more. One of the movie's most perfectly executed running bits has Alec Guinness as Bensonmum, Twain's personal assistant and butler.....who's blind. It's almost inappropriate, a little politically incorrect when you hear about it, but like so much else going on in Simon's script, it just works. He answers the door, never realizing if anyone entered but speaking as if they're standing in front of him. He serves dinner with poor results, guides the guests to their rooms, and has a great running gag with the new cook, Yetta (Nancy Walker), a Hungarian woman who's deaf, can't talk and doesn't understand English in any way, but Guinness' Bensonmum can't see that she's holding up notes explaining herself. It's stupid almost as an idea, almost infantile in its humor, but oh goodness, it works so well. Here's a montage of so many of those great lines, watch it HERE.

Director Moore's film runs just 94 minutes, flying by at a breakneck speed. The first 60 minutes are about as perfect as a comedy can be, smart and stupid but balanced out between the two. It's beyond funny on all levels. The last 30 minutes or so come up a little short, the goofiness becoming a little too much. Capote -- an obvious scene-stealer -- delivers a great monologue ripping all these great detectives apart. He criticizes their storytelling techniques, their introduction of characters out of nowhere, ridiculous twists that come out of nowhere, and basically making it impossible to solve the mystery, whatever it should be. The ending is flat out stupid, but it's supposed to be. If you can decipher it in any way, you let me know. The struggles of the last 30 minutes prevent it from being an all-time great comedy, but flaws and all, it is still a gem.

Murder by Death (1976): *** 1/2 /****

Murder, Inc.

Having worked for several years in film and television in the late 1950s, Peter Falk was looking for his big break. Typically relegated to supporting parts in both movies and on TV shows, Falk got it in 1960. Chosen from a casting call of off-Broadway actors, Falk was given a key role in the 1960 crime drama Murder, Inc. based on a true story. His career was off and running and Lt. Columbo never looked back.

It's the 1930s, and the United States is reeling from the Great Depression. In New York City, a low-level but rising hired killer, Abe Reles (Falk), is summoned to meet Lepke (David J. Stewart), a well-connected mobster who has an idea for the thuggish Reles and his crew. Mobsters are organizing, working together, and they need a brutal enforcer....Reles. The Brooklyn thug will work with his own men, carrying out hits as ordered from Lepke and his superiors. No one is safe as Reles rises to power, dispatching everyone as ordered. Intimidation, bribes, out and out murder, nothing is too much for him. Caught up in the vicious rise to power is Joey Collins (Stuart Whitman), a down on his luck lounge singer, who Reles enlists in pulling off a hit. It doesn't seem anything can stop this fast-rising criminal organization, but a new district attorney, Burton Turkus (Henry Morgan), is attempting to do just that.

From directors Burt Balaban and Stuart Rosenberg, this 1960 crime drama is based on the true story of an organization of mob killers who started working in the 1930s, dubbed Murder Inc. by the press. Give the Wikipedia link a read. It is a doozy. Burton Turkus' 1951 book provided much of the background for this film that plays more like a fly on the wall documentary than a hard-edged crime drama/thriller. Playing Turkus, Morgan even provides the off-screen narration to explain all the criminal and mob developments. Still years before The Godfather and the wave of Mafia/mob movie that followed, 'Murder' is ahead of its time in that sense. It's hard to believe the responses characters give when they find out that criminal organizations have done just that, organized. Somewhere along the way, it gets a little too pulpy, like it's trying too hard. It's good, but it could have been better.

The style here is of a made-for-TV movie, maybe even an extended TV episode. It was filmed in black and white -- a nice touch for sure -- that helps it play more like a film noir than a quasi-documentary. 'Murder' was filmed on location in and around New York City, adding another layer of realism to the story. There's something missing though, and all I can come up with is that it is on such a small scale. The movie feels very penned in, very set-based, echoing some sort of TV roots. There's also two different musical numbers that feel jammed into the story unnecessarily, slowing down a story that's already a little sluggish.

What helps 'Murder' rise above its problems is the casting of then relative unknown Peter Falk as mob enforcer and hit man Abe 'Kid Twist' Reles. Just 33 years old, Falk was nominated for a Best Supporting Actor for his performance, and it is a scene-stealing part. His intensity, his emotion, it all feels real. His Reles is a brutish thug who does one thing well...killing. He doesn't have much in the way of actual skills, but he's a tried and true killer. The movie is that much better when he's around, but unfortunately, the part doesn't get as much attention as it should with the ensemble cast around him. As the sinister Lepke, Stewart is a good villain in a different vein; more intelligent and thoughtful in his brutality. In the bad guy department, also look for Joseph Bernard as Mendy, Lepke's personal assistant and killer, Warren Finnerty as Bug, Reles' killing partner, and Vincent Gardenia as Lazlo, the criminally smooth mob lawyer, always ready to tangle with authorities.     

For a mob, Mafia and hired killer movie, far too much time is spent between Whitman's Joey and his wife Eadie (May Britt), obnoxious with her dead stare and general whiny-ness (and in an Eastern European accent too!). Joey does something stupid Mob-related, unwillingly gets involved and keeps on going, digging deeper and deeper. Yes, there's a payoff coming down the road, but getting there courtesy of Whitman and Britt is painfully slow at times. The movie is far better when it focuses on the mobsters going up against Turkus and Detective Tobin (Simon Oakland), a veteran police officer who's grown wary of "how effective" the D.A. can be. Also look for a pre-Dick Van Dyke show Morey Amsterdam as Walter Sage, a club owner and comedian who becomes a target of Murder Inc. It's an okay movie, but I came away disappointed as it is missing that one special ingredient.

Murder Inc. (1960): ** 1/2 /****

The In-Laws

I can think of a lot of different types of buddy movies. Westerns like Butch and Sundance, cop flicks like 48 Hours and Lethal Weapon, even straight comedies like Silver Streak and The Odd Couple. I'll watch them in basically any variety with any cast. There's just something appealing about the dynamic when handled correctly. So bandits, cops, oddball friends, how about in-laws? Not my first thought either, but 1979's The In-Laws is a gem.

Preparing for the wedding of his daughter (Penny Peyser), mild-mannered NYC dentist Sheldon Kornpett (Alan Arkin) is a little skeptical and worried to meet his future in-laws. Upon meeting them, Vince Ricardo (Peter Falk) and his wife (Arlene Golonka), Sheldon is less than impressed when Vince starts spouting off at dinner about all his experiences, even screaming at his son. He's worried about what his daughter may be getting into, but he's thrown for an even bigger loop when Vince shows up the next day at his Manhattan office. Vince needs some help recovering something from his office, but he can't go in. Trying to go along with the odd-sounding plan for the sake of his daughter, Sheldon goes along with it. What's Vince up to? As Sheldon finds out when two men start shooting at him, Vince is a C.I.A. agent caught up in a plot to recover two U.S. currency engraving plates. Uh-oh, weird in-laws just got weirder.

My only real exposure to this movie was a vague recollection of a vaguely remembered 2003 remake that I never saw. Long story short? It didn't look good. I've been in a rut on Netflix so when I stumbled across it via an actor's search (being a movie reviewer is hard work I tell you!) I jumped. This comedy from director Arthur Hiller can officially be called a slump-buster. I loved this movie. It was perfection in its subtlety and when it's funny, it's hilarious. All I'm trying to figure out now is why it doesn't have more notoriety, more popularity? And what have I come up with? I've got ABSOLUTELY NOTHING. It doesn't rewrite the genre -- but few comedies do -- and doesn't rely on anything dirty, sexy or violent. Oh, and there's little if any cursing. So anyways, that mystery is still to be solved. I for one, loved it.

How this 1979 comedy slipped through the cracks for me is another mystery. Alan Arkin and Peter Falk are two of my all-time favorites so teaming the two of them up is like a fastball down the middle. It is a match made in heaven. What works so well is that both actors get a chance to play the straight man to the others' screw-up goofball. You just don't see that a lot as comedies usually pigeon-hole actors into one or the other. As Falk's Vince gets Arkin's Sheldon deeper and deeper into his highly dangerous C.I.A. mission, things get better and better. They have an easy-going perfection in their chemistry. Any scene they have together is spot-on, and that's a good thing when they're in virtually every scene together. Both Falk and Arkin are given their chances to shine, and neither Hollywood pro disappoints. Just a solid pairing that carries the movie.

With a few exceptions, a majority of the laughs here come from the kookiness going on more than the performances. It's that almost laid back, subtle goofiness between Arkin and Falk that works so well in the ridiculously stupid situations they find themselves in. Vince's reveal to Sheldon about his occupation in a crowded NYC deli really gets things going, the duo talking about a federal crime loud enough that everyone around them can hear clearly. Later as they disembark a plane in Honduras (don't ask), they come under fire from snipers. Experienced under fire, Vince yells "Serpentine, Shell! Serpentine!" in regards to how he should run so the snipers can't draw a bead on him. The line is great, Arkin's follow-up even better. Another highlight comes late as Vince and Sheldon race from hired killers, Vince saying "It's incomprehensible they took my license away! I'm a great driver!"

The goofiest and funniest is saved for last when the duo ends up at the villa of a Central American dictator, General Garcia (Richard Libertini), who's clearly a card or two short of a full deck. Case in point; he's drawn a face on his hand and talks to it....all the time. There's a great pay-off to this extended sequence, but it plays like the rest of the movie. The story and ever-escalating craziness is all sorts of nuts, but Arkin and Falk keep it grounded. Also look for Nancy Dussault as Sheldon's wife, Carol, and Ed Begley Jr. as Barry Lutz, a C.I.A. agent with an interesting reveal about Vince's background. Underrated comedy, one that's definitely worth seeking out.

The In-Laws (1979): *** 1/2 /**** 

Robin and the 7 Hoods

In the early 1960s, the unquestioned kings of cool were the Rat Pack. NO ONE was cooler than this group of singers, actors, entertainers, performers, whatever you want to call them. Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Sammy Davis Jr., Peter Lawford, and Joey Bishop were to quote Bill Curtis in 'Anchorman'...."the balls." They oozed suaveness and style and pulled it off effortlessly because they just were cool. They didn't need to try to be cool. The Rat Pack toured, they put shows on in New York, Las Vegas and around the world, and expanding into all markets, guest starred on TV shows and thankfully (in my mind at least) ventured into movies too.

The movies range from good to bad, the high point being the original Ocean's 11 while others like 4 For Texas, Sergeants 3, and a few others that aren't really official Rat Pack movies but feature much or some of the group anyways, like 1959's Never So Few.  These were not movies intended to sweep the awards season. These were just fun movies that were perfect flicks to watch with a big bowl of popcorn where you could sit back and shut your brain off for a couple hours and be entertained.  It was Frank and his crew being themselves, shooting it out, wooing some ladies, and generally doing some boozing and partying.  The one I'd never seen before was 1964's Robin and the 7 Hoods. A twist on the well-known Robin Hood story sounded appealing with Robin being transported to 1920s Prohibition gangster-filled Chicago. How could you go wrong? Make it a musical.

A well-known Chicago gangster, Big Jim (an uncredited Edward G. Robinson), is knocked off by all the Chicago mafiosos at a birthday party hosted in his honor.  The power in the city is up for grabs with one gangster, Guy Gisborne (Peter Falk), swooping in and taking things over. He develops a plan with the crooked cops that not everyone agrees with, especially a gangster from the Northside of the city, Robbo (Sinatra). Robbo has no interest in pooling his interests and starts to prepare for facing the wrath of the organized gangsters. With his own crew, including transplanted Indiana gangster Little John (Martin), sharp-shooting Will (Davis Jr.) and Alan A. Dale (Bing Crosby), Robbo accidentally donates a large sum of money to charity, earning the trust and favor of Chicago. It's not so easy though because Guy is still working with Big Jim's power-hungry daughter (Barbara Rush) who has her eyes set on her recently passed father's death.

My one defense going into this Gordon Douglas directed flick was that I really didn't know going in that it was a musical.  The other Rat Pack movies were more about the cool factor, the heists, the shootouts, the partying, the camaraderie, the inside jokes, and all those things are present here. A story about rival almost warring 1920s Chicago gangsters is almost impossible to mess up on entertainment value alone. But the story's flowing along, things are being put into motion and WHAM! Frankie, Deano, Bing, and Sammy start singing.  It's not that the songs are bad, anything but with the immense talents involved, it's that there are songs at all.  This is a story that would have worked just fine as a Rat Pack takes on 1920s Chicago story.

So what carries the movie in between the detours for some singing is what else? That cast.  Call Sinatra a one-note actor, but he did that one-note perfectly. He's not the typical leading man, relying more on humor and even at times a dark cynicism to play his part. It's Sinatra though, and he's cooler than you. Get used to it. Dean Martin is my favorite member of the Rat Pack, and he's the ideal second banana to Sinatra. Davis Jr. shines in a supporting role as Will, and Crosby is a high point as Will A. Dale.  Falk was never bad, especially in parts like this that let him ham it up in every scene.  As the conniving daughter, Rush is generally wasted playing a character that could have been completely removed from the movie for the better. Victor Buono and Robert Foulk are also good as Chicago police officials with their hooks in the mob.

With all these different elements working together and against each other (depending on the scene), the movie struggles to find any sort of rhythm.  With just the natural comedic chemistry this cast has together, you're going to get some laughs almost by accident or default.  That's not fair though because there are some genuinely funny lines, and a few running gags that produce genuine laughs. But the laughs come few and far between for the most part, the scenes in between dragging along at a snail's pace.  Even fast forwarding through some of the lengthier musical numbers, the 123-minute running time felt more like three or four hours.  Stepping in as a film editor, I'd take out the music, add some more humor, a little more gunplay, and you've got a winner.  If only, if only.

Boring at times, highly entertaining at others, there is just too much talent involved in this Rat Pack production not to give it a mild recommendation. Even at their worse, Frank, Dean and Co. were very likable with an on-screen presence that few other actors/performers have ever shown.  They all have an easygoing way about them that gives the impression of watching a group of friends hanging around shooting the shit. If nothing else -- and this might not mean as much to a non-Chicagoan -- Sinatra sings 'My Kind of Town.' It's hard to mess that up.

Robin and the 7 Hoods <---trailer (1962): ** 1/2 /****