Nevada Smith

Just a few weeks ago, I watched and reviewed 1964's The Carpetbaggers, the story of a business mogul expanding his empire in the 1920s and 1930s. A minor character in the story? An aging cowboy turned western movie star, Nevada Smith. His backstory is explained but not shown. That's for a prequel made two years later, 1966's Nevada Smith.

Working at his father's played-out mine that has recently produced some gold deposits, a young half-breed Max Sand (Steve McQueen) is away from the house when three outlaws (Karl Malden, Arthur Kennedy, Martin Landau) ride up looking for that gold. Max is too late to help though, arriving at the house to find the tortured, mutilated corpses of his parents. The outlaws are nowhere to be found, but their trail is easy enough to follow. Max's biggest problem though? He's capable of caring for himself on the trail, but he has little money and no real experience with guns, especially when it comes to actually using a pistol or rifle on a human being. Desperate and with no supplies left, Max tries to rob a man on the trail. Instead, the man, Jonas Cord (Brian Keith), an experienced trailsman and capable shot, teaches Max all he can in his quest for revenge. His biggest advice though? Abandon his quest for revenge and move on with his life, but Max isn't hearing it.

It had been years since I watched this 1966 western from director Henry Hathaway (a solid western director, True Grit, Sons of Katie Elder). My biggest takeaway? It isn't as good as I remembered. Still good, still enjoyable, but not as good. There's still positives to take away though. 'Nevada' was filmed on-location in Inyo National Forest and the Owens Valley in the Sierra Mountains. Visually, it is a stunningly good-looking film with the mountains as a backdrop to the revenge story. The score from composer Alfred Newman is solid -- especially the main theme -- but isn't necessarily used enough. The best thing going is the revenge motive, a pretty gruesome story at times. Not graphic, just really violent because we know what's happening. Stabbings, drownings, choking, beating, systematic shooting of an unarmed man. It can be pretty rough at times.

So if you watch this 1966 western and come away a little confused, there's a good reason. The Max Sand character is young, really young. I'm assuming a teenager, maybe approaching 20. When the movie was made in 1965, McQueen was...35. And he's a half-breed with a white father and Kiowa mother. So yeah, he doesn't really look like a teenage half-breed (with his blonde hair too) in a pretty obvious case of miscasting. Still, McQueen makes the most of it. With the revenge motive, it is a fascinating character. Max -- later dubbing himself Nevada Smith -- becomes obsessed with killing his parents' murderers no matter what the cost on those who are helping him. McQueen does a good job in a physically demanding part, doing his own stunts while also adding a dimension of pure physicality to the performance. It's not often spoken words, just a sad look here, a drop of his shoulders there. Not ideal casting, but McQueen makes the most of it.

But the rest of the cast? The rest of the cast?!? It's pretty great. Brian Keith has always been one of my favorites, but I think this is one of his bests. His Jonas Cord is only in the movie for about 20-25 minutes but steals every scene he's in. His chemistry with McQueen is pretty perfect, and their scenes together crackle, an experienced hand with a gun trying to teach the younger Max all he can through good and bad. The Jonas/Max dynamic has always been my favorite, the movie's strongest point. With the episodic story, Malden, Kennedy and Landau make the most of their screentime, three particularly nasty villains you can't wait to see get their due. Raf Vallone is good too as Father Zaacardi, a priest who comes across Max and helps him in a time of need. Also look for familiar western faces Gene Evans, Paul Fix, Pat Hingle, John Doucette, Lyle Bettger, Howard Da Silva and Strother Martin in supporting parts.

Where does 'Nevada' go a little off the tracks then? At 130 minutes, it drifts too much with some extremely slow portions involving the episodic story. There just isn't a ton of energy at times. Two semi-love interests are added, Janet Margolin as an Indian dance hall girl and Suzanne Pleshette as a Cajun girl, are meant to show Max's obsession over a possible future with either, but they become repetitive and tedious. Just not a ton happens. The performances are good, the locations cool, but it's missing that special something. Good but not great.

Also worth mentioning is a western nerd moment. Any western fan who's seen any number of 1960s westerns will recognize Chuck Roberson, Chuck Hayward and Jerry Gatlin as background players and supporting parts. 'Nevada' takes that to new levels. Watch closely and you see them all playing multiple parts. In one scene, Roberson is part of Malden's gang, and the next he's Paul Fix's deputy. It's a little much and a little lazy, something Hathaway also did in Sons of Katie Elder. Thus ends this rant.

Nevada Smith (1966): ** 1/2 /****

Cannon for Cordoba

What I love more and more about movies as I look harder for those hard-to find gems is that there is always another gem around the corner.  They are the movies that you read about but can't find or can't afford that pricey VHS through an Amazon vendor.  They're the ones with these great casts that have somehow escaped your grasp for years.  I love stumbling across one of these older gems more than I appreciate seeing a really good new movie at the theaters.  For me, most of these gems are westerns or war movies, including 1970's Cannon For Cordoba. 

I read about this American western shot in Spain a few years back and was immediately interested but just couldn't find a copy anywhere, and it never seemed to be on TV anywhere.  Well, just like I was able to watch 1965's The Glory Guys last week, I found 'Cordoba' available through Netflix's Instant watch feature.  I knew from the first time I read about the movie I'd like it because it comes from the always reliable 'men on a mission' sub-genre that stretches across countless types of movies.  It is a mix somewhere between The Guns of Navarone, The Magnificent Seven, and The Professionals so it is fair to say you won't see anything you haven't seen before.  It is a western that follows the formula closely and is the better for it, even if it isn't anything new.

It's 1916 and General Black Jack Pershing (John Russell) is on the Texas/Mexico border with the U.S. army doing his best to protect the border from bandit attacks, none of whom is worse than a rogue general named Cordoba (Raf Vallone).  In a raid, Cordoba and his own army steals six artillery pieces and transport them back to his mountaintop fortress. Pershing has no option but to send some men undercover into Mexico to destroy the guns and possibly bring Cordoba out alive.  He chooses an officer, Captain Rod Douglas (George Peppard) to the lead the raid that will have his team travel 200 dangerous miles into Mexico. On his team are three men from his unit (Don Gordon, Pete Duel, and Nico Minardos), a Mexican officer (Gabriele Tinti) and a beautiful, mysterious woman who will be used as bait looking for revenge (Giovanni Ralli).  The odds are stacked against them though, and Douglas isn't sure any of them will come back.

Director Paul Wendkos sticks close the successful men on a mission formula from beginning to end here, and turns in a finished product that will never be thought of as classic, but it's like comfort food.  Just cause you've seen it before doesn't mean it's a bad thing.  He lays things out with an evil general as the villain, establishes a suicidal mission, assembles a team of specialists to pull off the job, throws in some curveballs, and lets the action take over.  Throw in a solid if unspectacular score from composer Elmer Bernstein, beautiful location shooting in Spain, a touch of nudity here and there, and enough action to fill in all the gaps.  It's typical of cheaper but well made westerns from the late 1960s and early 1970s that weren't trying to change the world. They were content to be damn entertaining, and whoever didn't like it didn't have to watch.

After some huge success in the early 1960s, Peppard was at a bit of a crossroads in his career, taking parts wherever he could get them.  He's not slumming here, but the part and movie as a whole clearly isn't as large scale as he'd probably like.  Playing Capt. Douglas, Peppard is a nice choice to lead a small team of specialists on a suicide mission.  He was cool in just about everything he did, and his cigar chomping (hello Hannibal!), don't give a damn officer is a solid anti-hero to lead the proceedings.  His team is made up of TV actors, and the four are given just enough background to make them interesting.  Gordon is the soldier looking for revenge against Peppard, Duel is Andy, the fun-loving nut of the group ready to turn on anyone and everyone, Minardos is the Greek immigrant with a touch for explosives, and Tinti is the loyal Mexican officer also looking for some vengeance.  I was surprised by which ones of the group actually makes it through the mission, but that's always part of the fun with these men on a mission movies.

This is an action western, and Wendkos does not disappoint.  Three huge set pieces dominate the gunplay, all building up to the explosive finale that is just an orgy of gunfire, explosions and nameless henchmen getting blown away.  Cordoba's raid on the cannons starts things off on a big scale, followed by Peppard's team tangling with some of Cordoba's men in a ruined, crumbling church.  Smaller scale, but still exciting.  Then in the finale, the actual suicidal mission.  For one, Cordoba's mountaintop fortress is a very cool set so placing a battle in its midst with chaos and explosions everywhere is a great finish.  It reminded me some of the ending to another Wendkos western, Guns of the Magnificent Seven, in terms of the large scope it takes.  Exciting to the very end with some good twists.

For a story set in the Mexican Revolution, 'Cordoba' does follow a fair share of genre conventions, all the better to stick with that formula.  You've got the generic evil general, the waves of nameless men in his armies more interested in women and drinking than fighting, and the requisite European general -- Swedish, not German this time -- played by Hans Meyer.  Vallone is given little to do as the evil Cordoba, but he looks the part with that menacing glint in his eyes.  He of course gets his comeuppance in the end as the bad guy always does.  A classic this is not, but an exciting, always entertaining western that is worth tracking down. No luck finding a trailer either, my apologies.

Cannon for Cordoba (1970): ***/****

Two Women

Does the Academy Awards tend to give an actress more credit for a role when she plays down her looks, like Charlize Theron in Monster or Hilary Swank in Boys Don't Cry?  I'm guilty of it as well, seeing a gorgeous actress and forgetting at times what a strong actress they can be.  But I do think there's something to it that when their looks are left by the wayside for a part people take them more seriously.  Unfortunate yes, but what are you gonna do about it?  I'm trying to decide if 1960's Two Women applies to that premise.

Italian star Sophia Loren won the Best Actress Academy Award for her performance of a widowed mother trying to get her 12-year old daughter through war-torn Italy late in WWII. It was the first Oscar ever given for a performance in a foreign language film, and one Loren fully deserved.  She's not playing against type because regardless the movie, serious or comedy, Loren was able to get into that character.  But it is a powerhouse performance that tries to dumb down her look, putting her in plain clothes with no makeup.  All I could think though was 'Good luck trying to make Sophia Loren look like an Italian peasant.'  But does her performance apply?  As of now, I'm thinking not at all, it's just a great performance.

Late in WWII, widowed mother Cesira (Loren) lives in Rome running a little grocery with her 12-year old daughter Rosetta (Eleonora Brown).  The war is not going in the Axis' favor, and Rome is being bombed more regularly, forcing Cesira to make the decision to leave the city until things quiet down.  With her daughter, they head to Cesira's village where she grew up as a child.  There much of her family waits, including many refugees and one intellectual (Jean-Paul Belmondo) who can't wait for the Germans and Italians to lose the war. Their biggest problems with so many people are finding enough to eat and drink every day, but as the war approaches the isolated country village, Cesira finds out that no matter how much you prepare, you can't prepare for everything.

Many of the WWII movies I've reviewed are of the front line soldier variety where we see the war from the perspective of a soldier or his unit in a certain battle.  While the war drives the story in 'Two,' this is a story that focuses almost completely away from the battles and the front lines other than a few strafing runs or appearances of lost patrols looking for help.  Director Vittorio De Sica creates this vision of war-torn Italy and lets the characters go to work.  It's a world where everyone is basically on their own for their own survival, and dangers lurk around every corner.  There aren't so much Allies and Axis soldiers as good and bad on both sides, a situation that comes into play late in the movie.  Everyone is affected by the war, and for these characters, they don't care who wins as long as the war ends.

Off and on throughout the movie, I didn't always get the sense of the danger that hung over Italy and more specifically Cesira's life in her village.  The biggest problem facing the single mother and her extended refugee family is food, finding enough so everyone can eat.  The war is the cause of this shortage, but it feels like a far-off war at many times.  More time is spent in the relationship between Cesira and Belmondo's Michele character, an intellectual who shakes his head at the whole premise of the war while also falling madly in love with Cesira (do you blame him?).  German characters drift into the story and leave -- along with two British commandos and a Russian deserter -- but the focus is more on the day-to-day survival caused by the war.

Where Loren won the Oscar for me was in the last half hour as Cesira and Rosetta return home to Rome via the country roads, the Americans and Allied soldiers advancing past them on tanks, trucks and jeeps.  This is where the real horrors of war come into play which I'm not going to spoil here.  It comes as a surprise because to a certain point we've been lulled to sleep by the relative safety of the country village.  But here Loren's mother has to protect her daughter in a way she's only considered, never thinking it would come true.  Loren's performance as a whole was excellent, feeling like a real mother with only two real concerns, her daughter and herself, but the final 30 minutes or so sets the character apart from other similar characters.

As for Loren's looks, I'm not sure if it is actually possible to dull them down.  Her hair is unkempt, she wears no makeup, and she wears loose, baggy clothing (if cut a little low at the neckline), all in an attempt to make her look like a run of the mill Italian peasant single mother.  Yeah, good luck with that.  I'll say this, natural is a good look for her.  If interested, watch the movie at Youtube starting with Part 1 of 13 with Italian subtitles. Early in the movie I struggled to keep up with the speed and lightning pace of the subtitles, but you get into a rhythm soon enough.  Also look for Raf Vallone in a one-scene cameo. Watch this one for a moving portrayal of WWII's effect on the civilians, especially Loren in one of her best performances.

Two Women (1960): ***/**** 

The Secret Invasion

Released in 1967, Robert Aldrich's The Dirty Dozen came along at just the right terms for movie audiences with its cynical tone and generally pessimistic look at society and any sort of hierarchy and power.  The story of 12 convicts chosen to take part in a suicide mission just before D-Day was unlike anything audiences had seen.  To Aldrich's credit, he made the premise unique and damn entertaining.  Really though, the idea of convicts turned commandos had been used countless times before.

Take 1964's The Secret Invasion from the master of schlock, low-budget B-movies, director Roger Corman. The cult director made a career of doing a lot with very little in terms of money in the budget as well as producing some 300-plus movies.  But when given the chance, Corman showed what he was able to do with even a mid-sized budget like in 1964's The Secret Invasion, a WWII story that uses the same basic premise as Dirty Dozen.  Don't be confused though, 'Invasion' is still a B-movie without any notion of being anything else.  On the highly positive side, it's a prime example of how good a B-movie can be when everything goes right.

Stationed in Cairo in 1943, British Major Richard Mace (Stewart Granger) has assembled a dubious crew to help him on a dangerous mission in the Balkans.  From prisons and penitentiaries all around the world, Mace has assembled a crew of criminals -- all experts in one way or another -- to join him.  Just days away from the Allied invasion of Italy, Mace and his team will sneak into the Balkans and help an Italian general (Enzo Fiermonte) escape from a heavily guarded German prison.  With the general's help, Mace hopes to turn the Italian forces against the Germans, making the Allied invasion even a little bit smoother.  First though, the major has to worry about keeping his team of crooks in line, many of them willing to shoot him and escape the first chance they get.

Now with a B-movie -- even a really good one like this -- you can't expect a bunch of A-listers starring.  Instead, you get something better.  Actors you know and have seen countless times but usually in supporting roles.  Some were past their prime and others still on the rise.  Corman hits a home run with the casting of his dirty half-dozen including Raf Vallone as Rocca, a mafioso and expert planner of strategy, Mickey Rooney as Scanlon, an IRA explosives expert, Edd Byrnes as Fell, the master forger, Henry Silva as Durell, the hired assassin, and William Campbell as Saval, a master of disguise and deception.  These were all solid character actors given a shot at starring roles, and the ensemble doesn't disappoint.

With any 'men on a mission' movie, there's a certain dark element that makes them intriguing.  By the end, you know most if not all won't make it so early on make your choices.  'Invasion' certainly has some fun with this notion as to who survives and how.  The cast is clearly having some fun with these cardboard cutouts for roles.  Vallone as the reliable second in command speaks in that heavily accented English and certainly makes a positive impression, as does Silva as the dead-eyed killer.  But by far, the most surprising and enjoyable part is for Rooney as the half-mad Irishman and explosives expert.  Playing completely against type -- as he would do again two years later in B-movie Ambush Bay -- Rooney absolutely steals the movie.

As much as I like a good, old-fashioned long movie (even The Dirty Dozen was 150 minutes long), a quick-paced B-movie can be just as enjoyable.  With his 95-minute movie here, Corman keeps the story going at all times with some snappy dialogue or a quick action set-piece.  The story flies by and never really slows down.  It's never long before the half-dozen find themselves in some sticky new situation they have to get out of.  Along the way, they dodge either, work with some partisans, and then finally must fight their way out of the German fortress.  Sounds easy, don't it?

Taking advantage of a bigger budget, Corman filmed in Yugoslavia and Croatia, giving the whole movie a unique, realistic feel to the proceedings.  The on-location shooting is great, but Corman saves the best for last.  Chased by hundreds of German soldiers, Mace's crew must escape up a seaside hill with the Germans close on their heels.  He clearly spent some money on this battle sequence with an epic feel.  Lots of extras working as German soldiers, explosions and shootouts galore, and some surprises as to who survives and who doesn't.  It's a great action sequence, and Corman almost lulls you to sleep early with so little action.  He certainly makes up for it in his finale.

I stumbled across this war flick at IMDB a few years back and am I ever glad I did.  It's exciting right from the start -- opening scenes included below -- and never really slows down.  Cool choices in casting, gorgeous locations, and a wham bang action finish.  Maybe it doesn't have the high hopes a movie like The Dirty Dozen did, but from master director/producer Corman, this is about as good as a B-movie can be!

The Secret Invasion <---opening (1964): *** 1/2 /****

The Kremlin Letter

Sometimes I get fed up with movies spoon-feeding their stories, their twists and turns with supposedly shocking revelations. They are the type of movies where you don't even have to be fully conscious to follow the story. Call it attention deficit disorder in younger viewers -- I'm 24 and resent people saying 'younger audiences' can't sit still for more than 10 minutes -- but for whatever reason movies more and more go down the road where original stories are dummied down so the average chimp can keep up.

So when I stumble across a movie that requires your attention for every second of screen time I jump at the chance. Movies with lots of information thrown your way in a short period of time can be frustrating and enjoyable at the same time. And where would this all work better because the genre framework is already established? Spy movies where betrayals, deceptions and double crosses are part of the landscape. Virtually forgotten 40 years since its release -- thanks to no DVD or VHS release -- 1970's The Kremlin Letter, directed by John Huston, is a nice little twist on the spy movie.

Released in the midst of the James Bond craze, The Kremlin Letter is basically the anti-007 in terms of action and storytelling. Huston's take is heavy on dialogue with almost no action from start to finish. Instead of action, there's tension to spare as a team of American and British agents go undercover in Moscow to accomplish a perilous mission. Countless bits of information and explanations about the setting and the characters are thrown your way without warning, forcing you to file away little bits of information in your head so a scene or a line makes sense later in the movie. With all that said, the "twist" revealed late isn't that much of a surprise -- if you're paying attention or have seen even a couple spy movie or two you'll spot it early -- but it does work because of how the twist affects the story.

In the midst of the Cold War, a single letter could tear apart the world if it falls into the wrong hands. A high-ranking American official has written a letter saying the U.S. would help the USSR in taking out China's nuclear weapons program, and the agent holding the letter turns up dead...without the letter. A new agent, Charles Rone (Patrick O'Neal), is assigned to assemble a team with the help of agents who have experience dating back to WWII. This group of American and British agents will be headed by Ward (Richard Boone) who will lead a group of specialists (Nigel Green, Dean Jagger, George Sanders, and Barbara Parkins) in hopes of getting the letter back before all-out war breaks out. Getting that letter won't be so easy though with two Russian agents, Kosnov (Max von Sydow) and Bresnavitch (Orson Welles) also involved.

Reading through that cast listing when I saw this movie on TCM's schedule, I'm not going to lie; I was a little disappointed in myself I'd never even heard of this movie...not even in passing, even a little bit. It's not a classic spy movie, but it is an above average entry. Most of that credit goes to Huston's directing and the performances he gets from this very impressive grouping of actors and actresses. With very little action, the spotlight is squarely on the cast to carry the movie. Some are in it more than others -- Jagger, Green and Sanders are criminally underused with some great eccentric characters -- but even the smaller performances leave an impression.

Never a huge star but always a reliable lead, O'Neal is the anti-007 in his portrayal of a spy. His Rone doesn't carry a gun, is a last-minute replacement for his position, and with his photographic memory and ability to remember everything told to him is a valuable member of the team. Instead of fighting his way out of a situation, Rone thinks things out before putting his life on the line, especially in a key subplot that sees him develop a relationship with von Sydow's Kosnov's wife, Erika (Bibi Andersson). As the veteran agent working with Rone, Richard Boone makes the biggest impression, and that's saying something considering the cast. His Ward is a scene-stealer, always addressing Rone as 'Nephew' with his Texan drawl, and demanding your attention every minute he's on-screen.

Their counterparts, von Sydow and Welles, have less time and development but don't waste a second. And really can you think of two better actors to play imposing, always intimidating Russian agents? Much like his role in 3 Days of the Condor, von Sydow is frightening with his steely glare, and when wasn't Welles an intimidating presence? The whole cast seems to be enjoying themselves with Green as a pimp/drug dealer, Sanders as a transvestite, and Parkins as a wet behind the ears safecracker. Raf Vallone even makes a quick appearance as an espionage teacher. They play the type of characters that could probably carry a movie on their own, but instead play supporting roles here. If I can find a copy of Noel Behn's source novel, I'll be sure to pick it up just to see if how much had to be cut for a feature film.

An interesting movie for any number of reasons, especially considering the year and time it was released in. It's hard to figure out why this little gem has been forgotten over the years (maybe it was too different from what audiences were seeing with the Bond series), but it is worth tracking down just to watch this great cast go to town with an interesting spy story. Convoluted at times but everything clears up in the end, including one last twist in the final scene.

The Kremlin Letter <----TCM clips (1970): ***/****

The Human Factor

In an interview he did for the special features The Human Factor DVD, George Kennedy says that growing up watching movies his favorite stars were not even stars. As a youngster, Kennedy chose the character actors as his favorites. It's only fitting then that the long-time actor -- still chugging along at 84 -- is a prime example of how good a character actor can be. Rarely given starring roles, the character actor was always given 4th or 5th billing but often enough stole the show. Actors like Ben Johnson, Victor McLaglen, and Warren Oates made careers out of those supporting roles.

So with a supporting actor Oscar to his name for his role as Dragline in Cool Hand Luke, Kennedy became one of the most dependable Hollywood character actors in the late 1960s and throughout the 1970s including a close association with a long list of disaster movies. But having seen enough of those supporting parts, it's always nice to see those actors get a shot with a starring role. In one of his few lead parts, Kennedy steps into vigilante mode in 1975's The Human Factor.

Working for NATO in Italy, electronics expert John Kinsdale (Kennedy) returns home one night to find police ringing his house. His wife and three children have been brutally murdered execution-style and there's very little in the way of evidence or clues to point to the murderers. With some help from the somewhat dimwitted Italian police chief (Raf Vallone), Kinsdale goes about using what little evidence the police do have to track down the killers. His co-worker, Mike McAllister (John Mills), agrees to help out so the duo uses their state of the art computer technology to get readouts on the killers.

As Kinsdale and McAllister continue to use all the facilities at their disposal, quite illegally as well, the evidence points to an extremist group (led by Thomas Hunter and producer Frank Avianca) demanding prisoners be released from prisons all over Western Europe. If the prisoners aren't released, more and more American families living in Europe will be brutally murdered. McAllister thinks they should go to the police with all the information they've obtained, but Kinsdale has other plans. He's not going to settle for a lifetime jail sentence for the terrorists, he's going to go after them himself.

In the vein of Death Wish or the Dirty Harry movies, 'Human' relies heavily on the idea of your average citizen being pushed far enough where his only option is vigilantism. At 6'5 and 250 lbs., Kennedy is quite a presence in the Paul Kersey/Harry Callahan role. His Kinsdale has one motive in life; kill the group who killed his family. If he gets killed in the process, so be it. Kennedy pulls off the scenes that require a ton of intensity nicely, but also nails the quiet scenes, like when he finds one of his daughter's dolls in the terrorists' hideout. Mills is more than solid in his own right as Kinsdale's sidekick, and Vallone is all right as the clueless Italian cop.

Critiques around the movie deal with its use of technology which at the times must have seemed pretty innovative. We're talking computer-to-computer hookup, probability software, programs that analyze evidence quicker than ever before. So watching this now in 2009, we're basically talking your average, run of the mill CSI episode -- feel free to pick which city. I'm betting this wasn't the intent when director Edward Dmytryk made the movie, but 'Human' is quite a time capsule for an early representation of technology.

While those technological segments can drag some, the movie really picks up speed once Kennedy goes vigilante. An otherwise mild-mannered guy, Kinsdale does anything and everything if it will help him get his family's murderers. One interesting scene that Dmytryk apparently winged on-location was a car chase through Naples with Kennedy manning a boat of a station wagon. In its ridiculousness it becomes an exciting chase scene. By far though, the best is saved for last in a hostage situation that is visually reminiscent of the Munich hostage situation. Fed up with formalities and negotiating, Kinsdale takes matters into his own hands in a bloody shootout with an ending that allows the viewer to make up his/her own mind on what happens.

A pretty mindless Italian crime movie that benefits from a strong performance from George Kennedy in the lead and John Mills in an underused supporting part. Slow moving at times, but the final 30 minutes make up for it, especially the finale. Here's a short TV spot if the trailer below doesn't convince you.

The Human Factor <---- (1975): ***/****