The Old Man Who Cried Wolf (1970)

If you don't like this, we can't be friends.

It is not deep, but it is fun to watch. It does have a bit more of an edge to it than other similar films.

A story that's too fascinating to pass by...

The thing I enjoyed most about the film is the fact that it doesn't shy away from being a super-sized-cliche;

This is a heart-rending story that would have been almost unbearable if it were not for the exceptionally poignant performance of Edward G. Robinson as an old man getting caught in a web of urban corruption. Sam Jaffe's brief but equally upsetting performance is on the same level, and it's like a nightmare of helplessness of old age. At the same time, a character like this wouldn't fit anyone but Robinson - he made many such characters before, but they all mount up to this one, lost in a world that because of his old age refuses to take him seriously or even believe him, since he alone knows the truth but can't understand it or make it credible, since it is too evil for human understanding. Even his son (Martin Balsam) ultimately fails him, while the end comes as a surprise, since it should have turned another way. It's a great story, all the characters are excellent, and the events and circumstances of this asphalt jungle of a hostile city environment are quite typical of 1970 - that's how the world was in those days, with psychiatry as the infallible authority of human life. Although it is very late, this is still a noir and one of the very darkest as such. When you try to settle after the film you feel very old and lost, like the too convincing old honest Robinson.

An elderly man pays a visit to his lifelong Polish friend in his neighborhood candy store--but just as they are discussing the $1000 his friend has saved up, a black man with a rubber hose walks in and beats the shopkeeper to the ground. The old man attempts to intervene and gets whacked on the noggin, too; when he finally comes around, surrounded by strangers and a police officer, his friend has died (of an apparent heart attack) and the money is missing. Edward G. Robinson stars in this run-of-the-mill TV-movie from Aaron Spelling Productions (he also served as Spelling's assistant on the film). It's cheaply-rendered and with no payoff, although the star, ever the consummate professional, manages a solid performance. Robinson's condescending family doesn't buy his story (they want him under a doctor's care), the police mock him, and an alleged witness (Naomi Stevens, who can't read a line without overacting) hysterically throws him out of her apartment (I was surprised she didn't scream "rape!" just for kicks). Luther Davis' teleplay, taken from an original treatment by Arnold Horwitt, spares Robinson no shortage of horrors--he's even attacked by a laughing group of schoolchildren, who do everything but point their fingers at him. Frustrating, annoying picture delivered all on one melodramatic note.

Someone uploaded this classic old TV movie on YouTube yesterday. Within hours it had thousands of views, so that might suggest people were bored and had nothing better to do than watch Eddie Robinson in something from 1970, or else this was something people had been eager to see for a long time. You can tell it was close to the end of his life because of his advanced age on camera. He plays a man turning 70, but in real life he was 76 almost 77 when he filmed his part. He has scenes where he goes up and down stairs (once all the way down a fire escape) and stretches where he is wandering streets in a bad part of town. So obviously the actor was fit enough for the role, but it sounds like he has emphysema because there are a lot of weird deep breaths in his line deliveries (he would die of cancer just over two years later). I felt the performances were very good, from both Robinson and Martin Balsam who plays his son. That's why I'm giving it a score of 8. Also, Sam Jaffe has a memorable turn as a murder victim, and so does Ruth Roman as a barfly who helps crooks. In fact Roman comes the closest to upstaging Robinson, and she's hardly trying-- she's simply that good. But of course the script is focused on Robinson's character, an old man who tries to convince others he did actually see a murder and his life is in danger. Since a lot is said to establish him as a man who always told the truth, it's rather ridiculous they all think he's lying in this instance. The dialogue is downright terrible where they're all coming up with excuses why they shouldn't believe him. Also, it was entirely unbelievable that Robinson could get away from the killer so easily during a scene where a hotel room catches fire. I am sure a real killer would have let the drapes burn and prevented our hero from escaping. Meanwhile, Ed Asner appears as a well-meaning shrink who strangely starts to play detective and goes with Balsam out into the streets to find out whether Robinson did in fact witness a murder. Since they've gone out of their way to say Robinson is suffering from paranoia, why would they all of a sudden think there is any merit in his story? Also, why would a psychiatrist think he can do a better job than the police, and when would he find the time to leave his other patients to investigate? Not very realistic at all.Overall the story has some interesting characters and performances. And I would say the far-fetched plot does manage to build to a memorable ending. But there is something lacking, something still not fully satisfying. Either Robinson's character should have been presented as someone with a real history of paranoid schizophrenia or he should have been known as a compulsive liar, a man who usually never told the truth about business or family matters. If he had these character defects in the past, it would make his true story that much more difficult to swallow. Another possibility was they could have had the killer threatening to harm his family and forcing him to live in fear in a more realistic way.

The only thing worse than to be a child and be disbelieved that you have witnessed a crime which has put your life in danger is to be an old man in the same situation. A tour de force performance by Robinson might just be the highlight of his later career. Balsam is excellent as the son. Asner does a good turn as a bureaucrat, and Percy Rodrigues is totally chilling in his portrayal. A great paranoia flick.