★ 7 / 10
He has a system you know! Four college
John Chard
He has a system you know! Four college buddies are out in a Reno casino when they mistakenly almost get arrested for a failed robbery. Upon proving their…
He has a system you know!
Four college buddies are out in a Reno casino when they mistakenly almost get arrested for a failed robbery. Upon proving their innocence, they hear a cop saying that robbing this particular casino is nigh on impossible. This gets young Ronnie thinking that it actually can be done, and sure enough he comes up with a fool proof plan that should be played out as a joke robbery. However, after letting his pals in on the plan, one of them, Brick, an ex army loose cannon, wants to do it for real.
There are many good things about this Phil Karlson directed picture, things that made me particularly glad I paid no attention to the meagre rating on the IMDb and watched it with no expectation. The cast is very strong, Guy Madison, Brian Keith, Alvy Moore, a young pre swash buckling Kerwin Mathews and a sultry and gorgeous Kim Novak in only her second credited role. Location work at Lake Tahoe is easy on the eye and the story from John Barnwell (adapting from Jack Finney's novel) is a good one, with a kicker of an idea in how to rob a casino.
I think that newcomers to the film should prepare for a more offbeat picture than what the plot synopsis hints at. It certainly has got tense moments, courtesy in the main from Keith's borderline psycho, but it's practically a talky picture with flecks of humour right up to the finale, where it all comes together without histrionics or fanfare. Phil Karlson, with the awesome Scandal Sheet on his CV, appeared on the face of it to be a good choice to direct, but although he has done crime/adventure/romance films very well before, blending those genres into one film was asking a bit too much. It's not bad directing, it's just an odd fusion that never really comes off, and it possibly stops the film from breaking out to a bigger and more appreciative audience. Karlson remains, though, a director well worth reappraisals because he has some excellent credits on his CV that are well worth checking out.
Still, it's an oddity of sorts, and tagging it as a Noir picture is a bit of a stretch, but this is one that's definitely recommended for the pluses that do indeed far outweigh the minuses. 7/10
★ 7 / 10
Post-traumatic Stress Disorder.
rmax304823
Four carefree young men stop off in Reno, Nevada, for a little down time on their way back to Midwestern University, where they are students. The four are…
Four carefree young men stop off in Reno, Nevada, for a little down time on their way back to Midwestern University, where they are students. The four are extremely handsome Guy Madison, whose girl, Kim Novak, is waiting for him back in school; bulky Brian Keith; whiz-kid and wealthy Ketwin Mathews; and funny-looking, wisecracking sidekick Alvy Moore.
If all of them look a bit older than most college kids it's because at least three of them have served in the Korean War. As a matter of fact, Keith brought the wounded Madison back from an exposed position and saved his life. Actually, all of them had served in World War II -- Madison in the Coast Guard, Mathews in the Air Force, and Keith and Moore in the Marine Corps. I mention their ages only in passing because it doesn't detract from the story.
And it's quite a story, too, not nearly as bad as might be imagined. Mathews proclaims himself bored. He wants to be a man of action and pull something off for the record. When they relaxed in Reno, Mathews developed a plan to rob one of the casino's, claiming it was foolproof. The money would all be given back afterward. He needs the others to carry out his scheme but they scoff.
The movie really belongs to Brian Keith, and he handles it well. He is suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder and, when crowded, has an alarming tendency to beat the crap out of the man who's bothering him, and Keith has the muscles to do it. When Kevin Mathews explains the details of his hypothetical armed robbery, the camera stays on Keith's face. And his features morph insensibly from amused disbelief to something resembling a grim fascination, richly colored with lunacy.
Keith more or less forces the others to go through with the plan, taking Kim Novak along for the ride. The robbery goes awry, as all robberies must in 1955, and Keith is cornered by the police until he is finally talked down by Madison.
Phil Karlson's direction is efficient if not very subtle. Karlson seemed attracted to (and good at) stories involving unexpected explosions of violence, such as "Walking Tall." But he allows Keith to go goggle-eyed with rage as he's beating another college kid half to death.
The writers included Sterling Silliphant who could do a fine job of adapting material for the screen, even if, at the same time, corrupting it, as he did in "From Here To Eternity." There's a scene in the script that should throw up fireworks of disbelief in any sophisticated audience. It's the climax, when Madison reminds Keith of their experiences together on the battlefield. "Remember the tracer bullets? How they turned the snow red?" Keith is cornered, sweating, trembling, half out of his gourd, and holding a gun on Madison, repeating the phrase, "I'm gonna kill you." And what does Madison do? He does what EVERY exemplary cretin does in these situations. He talks calmly but continues to advance on Keith, pushing him closer to the edge. And Madison's soothing reminiscences last about sixty seconds of screen time, then Keith collapses into sobs.
Guy Madison was plucked out of the crowd and turned into a romantic lead strictly because he looked good. His nose, in particular, is unforgettable. During the robbery Madison is disguised by a fake beard but nothing could camouflage that ski-slope nose. That aside, he is an unprepossessing actor, about as good as you or I would be if we were chosen from the crowd. Well, not as good as I'd be, but as good as you. Yes. I gave a sterling performance in "Weeds." I was the Corrections Officer that was left flattened on the floor, as if by steamroller, after the riot scene. No one has ever been flatter.
Brian Keith has always been a reliable performer. He never achieved Class A stardom but I can't remember a single film he's appeared in that he torpedoed. A shame about his death.
Anyway, this isn't the cheap B movie that you might think. It has no bankable stars, Phil Karlson wasn't a big name, and it's in black and white. Yet it hits its mark and does what it's supposed to do with lucidity.
26%
AUDIENCE
· 50 ratings
5.9/10
2.3K
•••
Watch this just for Novak, one of the true underappreciated treasures of 50s cinema. (Aside from Vertigo.)