99 and 44/100% Dead (1974)

It's no definitive masterpiece but it's damn close.

It's complicated... I really like the directing, acting and writing but, there are issues with the way it's shot that I just can't deny. As much as I love the storytelling and the fantastic performance but, there are also certain scenes that didn't need to exist.

The film creates a perfect balance between action and depth of basic needs, in the midst of an infertile atmosphere.

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.

Oddball take on the gangster movie courtesy of screenwriter Robert Dillon and director John Frankenheimer. Richard Harris is Harry Crown, a killer in the employ of mob boss Frank Kelly (Edmond O'Brien). Frank hires Harry to rub out Frank's chief rival, Big Eddie (Bradford Dillman), but Big Eddie ups the stakes by kidnapping Harry's new lady friend Buffy, played by Harris's real-life wife Ann Turkel. It takes place in a slightly futuristic milieu, and the fact that it's intended to be a satire and is never exactly taking itself that seriously is its main appeal, with the cartoon opening credits establishing the tone early on. It comes up with some effective images along the way, like the scores of corpses wearing cement shoes that have been dumped into the ocean (accompanied by Harris's narration) and the sight of actual alligators in the sewers. There's also the rousing music score by Henry Mancini to add to the fun factor. The problem is that the movie just doesn't have a whole lot of energy; it falls flat a lot of the time. It plods a little too much and seems longer than it is. In any event, the cast certainly gives it 100 (as opposed to 99 and 44/100) percent, with a droll Harris in the lead, and highly amusing performances by O'Brien and Dillman. Turkel, Janice Heiden as Clara, and Kathrine Baumann as Baby all provide the movie with appreciable eye candy. In fact, Baumann figures in what is one of the better sequences in the movie when Harry is working to prevent a bomb from going off; the sequence has fine tension. A good unlikely chase sequence involves a school bus, but one of the most enjoyable elements is seeing Harry take on Big Eddie's enforcer, Marvin "Claw" Zuckerman, played to the hilt by the wonderful Chuck Connors, so named because he puts claws, guns, and other implements on the end of his arm where Harry had hacked off the real deal some time ago. This could and should have been more fun overall, but it does have its moments. Fans of the actors should be satisfied. Six out of 10.

Shrewd ace hit-man Harry Crown (Richard Harris in fine cool form) gets hired by top mobster Uncle Frank Kelly (the excellent Edmond O'Brien) to bump off his ruthless rival Big Eddie (a deliciously broad portrayal by Bradford Dillman). However, Big Eddie retaliates by unleashing his brutish enforcer Marvin "Claw" Zuckerman (neatly essayed with menacing relish by Chuck Connors) on Harry. Director John Frankenheimer, working from a quirky and imaginative script by Robert Dillon, relates the zany story at a snappy pace, expertly mines an amusing line in dark, yet campy and playful deadpan humor, stages the exciting car chases and shoot outs with his customary skill and flair, maintains a cheerfully twisted screwball sensibility throughout, and delivers lots of striking oddball visuals that include giant alligators in the city sewers and corpses in cement shoes littering the bottom of the sea. Moreover, the cast attack the kooky material with lip-smacking zest: Harris, O'Brien, Dillman, and Connors have a field day with their colorful parts, with sturdy support from the gorgeous Ann Turkel as Harry's loyal and sultry school teacher girlfriend Buffy, David Hall as nice and eager novice button man Tony, Katherine Baumann as the sweet and adorable Baby, and Janice Heiden as Uncle Frank's luscious two-timing moll Clara. Ralph Woolsey's sharp cinematography gives the picture a funky stylized pop art look. Henry Mancini's groovy swinging score hits the right-on jaunty spot. A very enjoyable and interesting one-of-a-kind oddity.

I suspect that Frankenheimer (who directed some of my all time favorite films) was aiming for a Bond spoof but this one blows up in OUR face ... there's no excuse for it. The movie looks great, the cast is top notch (that is, most of the male cast), the women are gorgeous in a 1970's woman-child kinda way ( ... and riotously BAA-AAD actresses). Coulda been a fun night out if you were bombed on Maui Wowee but I suspect cannabis would've been useless. This is just a Beautiful Mistake. Nothing to recommend it -- unless ---- you're needing costume and hairstyle references for the hipsters ca. 1974. A bomb ... well, more like, 99 and 44/100% DUD.

It's certainly different, but it's not very good. Richard Harris plays a hit-man hired by a mob boss to knock off a rival. Director John Frankenheimer starts things off with a bang with Roy Lichtenstein inspired titles and a pretty fun shoot out/car chase. The film itself is so slow that quirky touches like a giant balloon sculpture, a lesson on cement shoes and an incorporated brothel offer a lot of relief. Harris looks otherwise engaged and Ann Turkel, though gorgeous, isn't much of an actress...and she's certainly too classy to be convincing as a school teacher/dancer named Buffy! A very old and tired looking Edmond O'Brien plays "Uncle" Frankie, the mob boss --- he looks like a puffy Humphrey Bogart and sounds like a near dead Jason Robards. Connors " plays "Claw" and clearly has a lot of fun with his prosthetic. Bradford Dillman is awful as O'Brien's rival...he affects some sort of Brooklyn accent even though no one else does AND the film is set in L.A. Henry Mancini's jazzy score is great, but becomes increasingly intrusive as the film progresses.Flaws aside, the film is surely a high-water mark in the spotty career of Richard Harris...he went on to star in ORCA, THE CASSANDRA CROSSING, etc.