"When a man's partner is killed, he's supposed to do something about it.
It doesn't make any difference what you thought of him. He was your partner
and you're supposed to do something about it. And it happens we're in the
detective business. Well, when one of your organization gets killed, it's-it's
bad business to let the killer get away with it, bad all around, bad for
every detective everywhere."
Ok, that is from The Maltese Falcon but this film treads the same territory
though with a difference. The Maltese Falcon is a classic; this sure isn't.
But director Richard Benjamin (best known as a comedic actor but also directed
some decent films - Racing with the Moon, My Favorite Year, the Money Pit)
and writer Blake Edwards certainly had Spade and his cop friend Dundy in
mind when they did this - but the bromance between them is so glaring that
they didn't think they needed the Femme Fatale. She would have just gotten
in the way.
To play these roles they went out and signed up two of the biggest action
legends of the time - Burt Reynolds and Clint Eastwood - and throw in Richard
Roundtree, Rip Torn and Tony Lo Bianco - and you have the ingredients of
one of the great gritty action films ever. So they decide to make a . . .
light hearted action comedy. Yes it is ok - fun and frivolous - but what
a waste of testosterone. Kind of cinematic malpractice.
The story is set back in the 1930's. Prohibition is still the law of the
land. The Gold Diggers of 1933 and Animal Crackers are playing at the theater.
Whorehouses are resplendent and full of politicians. Large cars roam the
streets with tommy guns sticking out the windows. But for my money neither
Reynolds nor Eastwood really fit into this time period - just much too modern
in their style, attitude and quips. But it's a comedy so you let a lot of
this pass you by. Till the action, which is why you bought your ticket. But
that is played generally for laughs as well - though a bunch of guys are
killed. In one huge gunfight there must have been 300 rounds of ammo fired
off and no one is hit. Good help must have been hard to find.
There is a bit of femininity here as well in smaller roles - Irene Cara,
Madeline Kahn and Jane Alexander. If you go expecting a comedy, this might
be more palatable. Again a well-made film technically but an opportunity
missed in my opinion. This was the film in which Reynolds was badly hurt
by getting hit by a metal chair instead of a fake wooden one. Reynolds had
his jaw broken. This was on the first day of shooting but Reynolds amazingly
continued with the film. This injury really screwed him up though and led
to him losing loads of weight (and rumors spreading that he had A.I.D.S)
and of being able to act for almost two years - and got him hooked on pain
killers for a long while.
