The Cape Town Affair (1967)

Wonderful Movie

Truly Dreadful Film

Just perfect...

i must have seen a different film!!

People who are fans of Samuel Fuller (who was one of the writers) or wanting to see early appearances by actors James Brolin and Jacqueline Bisset might find the prospect of watching "The Cape Town Affair" promising. But it won't take them very long upon watching the movie to start regretting their decision. The big problem with this movie is that it is incredibly boring. It's talk, talk, talk, with pretty much NOTHING of consequence or importance happening in the first two- thirds of the movie. A few things happen in the last third of the movie, but not much, and it ends up being almost as boring as the first two-thirds. Another problem with the movie is that the central character (played by Brolin) is not very likable - you'll be wondering why you are bothering to follow this selfish and cold individual. By the way, if you are wondering about the Cape Town setting, while it does occasionally add a little color in the backdrop, it's otherwise wasted - with almost no rewriting, the events of the movie could be taking place in Los Angeles. This is one movie that's pretty much a complete waste of time.

While riding on a bus in Cape Town, South Africa, an unwitting courier named "Candy" (Jacqueline Bisset) has her purse pick-pocketed by a two-bit thief by the name of "Skip McCoy" (James Brolin). Although she is unaware that she is working for the communists she is told that the envelope she was carrying is extremely important and that she needs to get it back at all costs. So she visits certain underworld figures and finally finds a person named "Sam" (Claire Trevor) who can identify the pick-pocket. Unfortunately, when she tries to buy it from him she is told that he wants a great deal more money than what she has on her. Soon Candy, Skip and Sam become deeply involved in a dangerous game of intrigue which threatens to escalate out-of-control. At any rate, rather than detailing the rest of the story and possibly spoiling the movie for those who haven't seen it I will just say that I thought it had a good premise but that it ended up being a bit dry and mundane. While I liked the performances of both Jacqueline Bisset and Claire Trevor I didn't think either of them was given an adequate script to really enhance the overall value of the movie. As a result I rate it as only average.

Choppy, poorly directed remake of Pickup on South Street. James Brolin while attractive is bland in the lead never approaching the lowdown grit that Richard Widmark effortlessly gave the character in the original. This was one of Jacqueline Bisset's first roles and her inexperience is evident although at least part of the blame belongs with the director since her next few films, with stronger directors, show a marked improvement over her work here. Unsurprisingly the best performance in the film comes from Claire Trevor as the frowsy Sam but even she doesn't match the peerless performance of Thelma Ritter, considered by many her best work, in the first film. This was Claire's last film for 15 years until she made a delightful return as Sally Field's mother in Kiss Me Goodbye, a much better film than this, and then permanently retired. As for the rest of the film, everybody else gives terrible performances, scenes either just stop or start with a good deal of narrative flow missing and the photography is washed out and overly bright. Not an estimable credit on anybody's resume.

The best part of this film is the opportunity to visit Cape Town, South Africa during the height of Apartheid. As a low-budget, spy thriller, it is shot in as many unmodified local settings as possible. Street shots are right in the heart of the downtown and there are harbor shots and scenes from within the Police Headquarters. The photos on the wall give away the time frame as well.Claire Trevor is the only actor credited in some Film Compendia and I wonder if both Brolin and Bisset paid not to be listed!Brolin plays a hard-boiled petty thief and "Jacky" Bisset plays a runner for the spy ring. Claire Trevor plays Sam, the connecting character to the world of petty crime and espionage.