Richert has managed to condense a Robert Condon novel into 86 minutes, in itself something of a feat, though the result is rather a lot of rushing about and following wild goose chases all over the place. (Condon wrote the novels of The Manchurian Candidate and Prizzi's Honor.)
Jeff Bridges is great as brother of assassinated President (there's a Kennedy air about it all) and son of powerful yet shady John Huston, attempts to find out what's going on. The first murder scene in the car is brilliantly handled; various thrills follow; the plot is complicated. Starry cast also comprises Anthony Perkins, Eli Wallach, Sterling Hayden, Dorothy Malone, Belinda Bauer, Ralph Meeker, Toshiro Mifune, Richard Boone and an uncredited Elizabeth Taylor.
Shot with noiry richness by Vilmos Zsigmond (operator John Bailey), edited by David Bretherton (Cabaret, Westworld, Sea of Love, Silver Streak, The Train, The Diary of Anne Frank, Peyton Place...), music by Maurice Jarre.
Original running time quoted as 97 mins (Maltin), 96 minutes (Time Out). It was apparently re-edited in 1983 and had deleted scenes restored and a different ending. Either way it didn't seem to quite hit the mark.
No comments:
Post a Comment