Blindfold (1966)

Best movie of this year hands down!

I love this movie so much

A waste of 90 minutes of my life

I like movies that are aware of what they are selling... without [any] greater aspirations than to make people laugh and that's it.

Aside from all too few location scenes of Manhattan in 1964, the movie "Blindfold" is a low-budget affair that wastes the acting talents of all involved in this movie. One scene stands out for me, as Rock Hudson's character is talking to the general, played by Jack Warden. They are supposedly flying in a turboprop airplane, yet their seats face each other, the window is covered by a long curtain and you see no one else, not even the pilot. Just a studio set, Universal wouldn't spring for filming in a mock up of a real plane or even in a real small plane. As usual throughout this movie, director Philip Dunne does an abysmal job staging the scene. What is surprising to me is that Joseph MacDonald, the director of photography, does such as bad job lighting up this scene and most of the movie outside of the scenes in Central Park. DP MacDonald usually was aces, as in westerns like "Rio Conchos" and "Alvarez Kelly." The less said about the story, the better. This movie was co-writer Dunne's last screenplay and he quit while he was at the bottom. I still can't figure out why everyone made such a big deal about kidnapping the scientist, there is no explanation of what he was working on. Beautiful Claudia Cardinale wanders about the movie looking upset. In a chase scene at the end through a swamp, she wears a tight blouse that the director makes sure never gets wet, don't want to show too much of her assets. The one word that describes this movie is "tired." No one wanted to do more then turn out about ten reels of film. Flat lighting, cheap sets, badly edited chase scenes and dull characters. Rock Hudson as a famous psychiatrist who has a problem with his girlfriend? This movie was a good way for Hudson to prepare for his later career on his series "McMillan & Wife," where cheap production values, bad lighting and shoddy writing were the norm for that 1970s series.Except for the fine actors in this movie, I can't think of one positive thing to say about "Blindfold."

Claudia Cardinale is the only possible reason to watch this film. She is absolutely gorgeous.The film is all over the place not knowing whether to be deadly serious or slapstick.Kidnap and murder on the one hand, then Rock Hudson fighting the bad guys with a canoe stuck on his head and then fending them off with a fire extinguisher whilst sat on a rocking horse. It made Henry "the ornery Mule" look the most dignified character and the most intelligent too.But the mere sight of Miss Cardinale!

Channel 5 TV in Britain showed this film today 09/12/05 and I was very taken and surprised what a delightful and deftly made film it was/is. It was entertaining and though not deep you always sensed that all was not what it appeared to be and there would be a sting in the "tale".Being blindfolded would never seem to portend a good omen a would always be an indication of undergoing a pretty serious experience though it's a way of you not seeing too much so that it may possibly portend eventual survival .Seeing blindfolded men these days seem to be a prelude for having your head sawn off whilst still alive, a la Iraq, so there is always in this situation which carries a serious thread even it is interwoven with a comic touch and a dry sense of humour as is this film and the film is a success: an accomplished weave of dynamic and contrasting interplay of humour and seriousness: walking that particular tightrope is an act were you can easily fall off long before you reach the finish at the other end: too much rope for some films but this one skips there easily.

Good fun entertainment by Rock Hudson and Claudia Cardinale. As always Jack Warden does a nice job in a support role. When Hudson is kidnapped he makes note of the things he hears on the way to the kidnappers hideout. He is able to help the police track down the kidnappers following the sounds. To this day this movie stands out in my mind because of them noting the geese sounding like people at a party. Grab some popcorn and enjoy it if you are lucky enough to catch an airing of this on TV.