Titreenp SERIOUSLY. This is what the crap Hollywood still puts out?

Lawbolisted Powerful

BeSummers Funny, strange, confrontational and subversive, this is one of the most interesting experiences you'll have at the cinema this year.

Nayan Gough A great movie, one of the best of this year. There was a bit of confusion at one point in the plot, but nothing serious.

LeonLouisRicci Cinema in the Year 1967 was in Somewhat of a Turmoil or Change. The Motion Picture Code was Disintegrating and Filmmakers were Caught in a Sort of Limbo Trying to Figure Out What was Expected, Acceptable to the Movie Going Public and Just How to Approach Previous Subject Matter Taboos and So Forth.In This one the On Screen Subject of Heroin and Heroin Addiction, Drug Trafficking and Related Events was Open for New and Previously Unexplored Content in Terms of "Entertainment". You Can See that in This Film it is a Fairly Realistic if Superficial Account of the Subject. But You can Also See the Restraint and Some Reluctance for the Sake of Good Taste and Caution.As a Movie it is Not Bad but Not All That Good. There is some Gritty Stuff Here and There and it is Handled Mostly as a Crime Thriller Story. Elements of Law Enforcement and the Mob are at the Forefront and the Tone and Style are Not Much More than a Ramped Up TV Show with Splashes of Big Screen Realism.Stella Stevens Shows Some Acting Chops, Especially in Her Drug Induced Stupor and David Mccallum is OK but there are No Signs that He Would Become a Major Star After His Run on the Man from U.N.C.L.E (1964-68). Actually, His Co-Star on the Series Robert Vaughn had a Much More Lucrative Movie Career. Telly Savalas and Ricardo Montalban did Go On to Some Success Outside Television . Mccallum did Continue to Work Mostly in Television to This Day.Overall, the Movie is Worth a Watch to Witness the Changing Face of Cinema as the Code was Crumbling, and for a Look at Some Very Popular TV Actors on the Big Screen Early On. But the Film is Objectively Not Much Better than Average Despite an Attempt at Exploring the World of Smack and its High-Level Distribution.

blanche-2 I well remember David McCallum from his Man from U.N.C.L.E. days, enjoy him now on NCIS, and saw him on stage as Emperor Josef in Amadeus on Broadway. At that time I interviewed him. I have never met anyone less like a matinée idol in my life: unassuming, detached, nervous, but very polite and obviously hard-working. Only those my age would know that in the '60s, with his cute blond haircut, adorable face, and accent, he was the object of so much affection.Here he stars in Sol Madrid, probably MGM's attempt to capitalize on his matinée idol status. He plays undercover agent Sol Madrid who is assigned to destroy drug traffic coming from Mexico, engineered by a man named Dietrich (Telly Savalas) and distributed by a man named Villanova (Rip Torn).With the help of a U.S. officer working undercover in Mexico, Jalisco (Ricardo Montalban), Madrid uses Villanova's ex-girlfriend (Stella Stevens) to get into Dietrich's home, where he poses as a drug dealer looking for a huge amount of heroin.This is not a very interesting script, but the Acapulco locations are beautiful, and it's a last chance to see the wonderful Paul Lukas -- this was his final film. Savalas has a showy part and acquits himself well. Rip Torn is appropriately evil, and Montalban very good. McCallum doesn't exhibit much in the way of personality; he underplays, but the character he portrays is clever and can get a job done with a sort of quiet authority, and when he needed to be more demanding, he was. So in spite of some criticism of his performance here, I think his instincts were right. Stella Stevens was a good choice for Villanova's girlfriend - tough and edgy.Not great, but not bad.

Poseidon-3 Beautiful location scenery, an eclectic cast and a fairly pedestrian script add up to an okay crime drama. McCallum plays an undercover drug agent (with the unlikely name of Sol Madrid) who is trying to bring down fat cat kingpin Savalas and mob distributor Torn. He takes Torn's former moll Stevens to Mexico in order to infiltrate Savalas' heavily guarded estate and set up a sting operation on him. Assisting him is Montalban, a U.S. cop who has been working undercover in Mexico for many years and who wants to bring down Hingle, another linchpin in the drug connection. There's a lot of sniping, conspiracy, betrayal and violence along the way as McCallum works to reach his goals. Acapulco locations add a nice touch to the film and there is great, slick acting by Savalas and Montalban. Torn also inhabits his menacing character well. McCallum, however, veers back and forth from a blank nonentity to a petulant child who isn't getting what he wants. His performance is both uneven and uninvolving. Stevens is pretty shrill for much of the time, though she does look great during a lot of the film in her Moss Mabry creations and impossibly thick (faux?) blonde hair. She also allows herself to be seen (virtually) sans makeup in some of her grittier moments. Aside from some witty and authoritative moments with Savalas and a clever (if rather unbelievable) drug smuggling attempt, the film is mostly a drag. It seems a bit aimless and the lead's emotionless demeanor does not invite a lot of investment from the audience. There is a sort of interesting background for the title sequence in which a plant is sliced open and white liquid spews out while the red-lettered credits run. It's a tough, occasionally intriguing film, but one without much emotional payoff or lingering interest.

Pocketplayer OK...it's late and TCM is playing this flic so I decided to check it out. After all I'm house-sitting and don't have cable myself, so I'm taping movies. This movie came on around 1:00AM and I decided to video tape it.I like Telly Savalas and wondered how he would do in a lead role. David McCallum was known to me visually, but I wondered how he would do as a lead. Stella Stevens looked good from any angle and surprisingly was spirited, not just a pretty face and curvy bod. Ricardo Montalban was known from the TV series, but I don't think I've really seen him in any early movies. In fact, I caught the actor from The Longest Yard and this is what I like about these older movies-you catch glimpses of actors who had roles in larger films.I thought the movie had a big feel about it despite McCallum's low key delivery. He was acting from the Clint Eastwood school, and Clint can pull that off as few can. This movie reminded me of a big budget film with B actors playing lead roles. The overall plot was decent, but like said previously, there were a lot of holes. I thought the heroin scene with Stevens was pretty advanced for that time period, even if it was the 60's. They charted some risky territory as her character was pinned down and forced to take the needle. Not the best of flics, but I'm going to keep the tape. I thought it was a decent movie and being 35 years old, there is a lot of grace given while watching. It's a lot better than most of what comes out of Hollywood today!