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(More customer reviews)From 20th Century Fox's new Cinema Classics Collection, whose prerequisites seem to be that a film be old and somewhat ostentatious, comes the feature Deadfall (1968), based on a novel by Desmond Cory and adapted and directed for the screen by Bryan Forbes (The Stepford Wives, International Velvet), starring Michael Caine (Dressed to Kill, Deathtrap), Giovanna Ralli (The Invisible Woman), and Eric Portman (The Spider and the Fly, "The Prisoner"). Also appearing is David Buck (The Mummy's Shroud) and legendary composer John Barry (Dr. No, Midnight Cowboy), who also provided the music for the film.
As the film opens we meet Henry Clarke (Caine), a professional jewel thief and apparent alcoholic, who's currently residing in a sanatorium of sorts attempting a recovery (we eventually learn he really doesn't have a problem with the booze, as he's only their to get close to a potential mark). Anyway, as Henry is finishing up his `convalescence' he's approached by a smartly dressed young woman by the name of Fe' Moreau (Ralli) as she's got a business proposition. Seems she and her husband, a much older man named Richard (Portman), who, by the way, seems to enjoy the company of men more than he does women (i.e. he's a little on the fruity side but manages to keep the mincing to a minimum) are in the same business as Henry, and seem to know an awful lot about not only what he does, but what he has done, particularly in some of his past heists. Turns out Richard is more of a planner than a thief, and he needs Henry to basically do all the breaking and entering so that he can come in at the end and gain access to where the valuables are stored. Once the details are squared away, the trio begins working on a preliminary job, one that involves stealing some jewels from large and well-protected estate while the owners are away at a concert. Things go fairly smoothly in the beginning, but the pair do encounter some difficulties on the back end. Eventually they make the score and decide to head off to Richard's villa somewhere on the coast of Spain, if only to rest up and plan their next job. And this is when things start to get really weird...you see, Henry and Fe' head out early and end up developing a romantic affair, while Richard shows up a few days later with a...friend...a young male friend named Antonio. Henry, taken with Fe', wants her all to himself, but she's unable to commit due to the fact she's married and all, and while she doesn't really love Richard, she does have a certain attachment to the man, one she can't just give up easily. This back and forth goes on for awhile and eventually Henry learns some disturbing truths about both Fe' and Richard, truths that could jeopardize their plans for their next heist...
I enjoyed a number of aspects about this film, my favorite being the sequence involving the initial robbery performed by Henry and Richard. This was a lengthy piece of footage as the shots of them breaking into the large mansion were cut with scenes of the orchestra concert, the same concert the people who owned the house being burglarized were attending. As a result the music performed during the concert is also played during the heist, all of which was edited in such a way to make everything quite exciting and engaging. The first hour or so of the film (the movie runs about two hours) things move along fairly well, but then the next forty five minutes the story gets bogged down with a whole lot of relationship type material, as Henry tries to figure out why Fe' is as attached as she is to Richard, and why Richard is unwilling to let her go. There are some interesting and ultimately creepy revelations made around this time as we learn a number of things about Richard's past, but it kind of felt dragged out and slightly pretentious by the end. Things do pick up during the last fifteen minutes, but I do believe the film could have been shortened by at least ten minutes, perhaps in an effort to provide better pacing. The crux of the story isn't really the heists themselves, but the interactions that develop between the characters in terms of their relationships, so perhaps this aspect of the film was intentionally drawn out to provide the necessary development as perceived by those making the feature. Anyway, some other aspects that worked really well for me were the European settings and the smart dialog. There's a lot of philosophy thrown around, as Richard seems to pontificate endlessly while playing his odd, little head games, but Henry does counteract this well with his streetwise wit and natural charm. I'm generally intrigued by characters on film or in novels that always manage to pull an appropriate retort or reply out of their ash. I thought all the performances were very professional and Caine was entertaining as usual. The one element that tends to stand out the most, as I think most who've seen the film will agree, is John Barry's beautiful musical score (he also appears in the film as an orchestral director), which complements the activity on the screen remarkably well. If you're a fan of exceptional musical scores, it might be worth seeing this film on that aspect alone. Overall I thought this a curious feature with some definite entertainment value, but certainly not for everyone's tastes. If you prefer a quick pace, lots of action, and minimal character development, this feature probably wouldn't be of interest, but if you enjoy a textured and layered storyline with a focused eye towards the characters and a moderately bizarre twist or two, then perhaps this will fit the bill.
The anamorphic widescreen (1.66:1) picture on this DVD release comes across really well as the picture is exceptionally clean and clear, and the audio, available in Dolby Digital mono (English and Spanish) and stereo (English only) is excellent, in my opinion. There are some extras including a featurette titled The John Barry Touch - The Music of a Master, an original theatrical trailer, an isolated musical score and sound effects track, subtitles in English and Spanish (the back of the case states there are also subtitles available in French, but this isn't true), and a couple of trailers for some other Michael Caine films, Peeper (1975) and The Magus (1968), both of which were recently released onto DVD.
Cookieman108
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