Tonight's Movie: The Anderson Tapes (1971) - A Kino Lorber Blu-ray Review
Sean Connery stars in THE ANDERSON TAPES (1971), just released on Blu-ray by Kino Lorber.Connery plays Duke Anderson, just released from a ten-year stint in prison.
Duke moves in with his ex-girlfriend Ingrid (Dyan Cannon, THE LAST OF SHEILA), who lives in a luxurious New York City apartment paid for by a sugar daddy (Richard B. Schull).
Almost immediately Duke starts planning the inevitable "one last heist," robbing all the occupants of Ingrid's building. He puts together a team (including Christopher Walken and Martin Balsam) and gets to work on the planning, which includes getting in touch with old mafia contacts.
THE ANDERSON TAPES was directed by Sidney Lumet from a screenplay by Frank Pierson, based on a novel by Lawrence Sanders.
The film begins somewhat promisingly, with the focus on surveillance a half century ago being an interesting theme. Today's technology may look different, but the film drives home how pervasive it could be even decades ago.
The editing of the heist sequence is terrible, zipping back and forth in time; again, the more things change, the more they stay the same? Lumet's non-linear storytelling here seems to be foreshadowing Christopher Nolan and movies like OPPENHEIMER (2023). Unfortunately in this case it simply leaves the viewer confused as to what's happening when.
It's rather interesting that the last two Connery films I've seen both had him playing an unhappy thief; the other film was THE GREAT TRAIN ROBBERY (1978). Perhaps I should revisit another (better!) Connery-as-thief film, ENTRAPMENT (1999), soon.
The Kino Lorber Blu-ray is a fine print with good sound. Disc extras consist of a trailer and TV spot; a gallery of eight additional trailers for other films available from Kino Lorber; and a commentary track by Glenn Kenny. There's a cardboard slipcase for the plastic Blu-ray case, which comes with reversible cover art cover art.
The first two thirds or so of the movie are reasonably interesting, including the scenes setting up the heist, but the entire thing falls completely apart in the final third.
There are also incongruous tonal shifts, with Ralph Meeker and Garrett Morris acting as though they're in a police comedy; meanwhile the members of Anderson's heist team are being picked off one by one. The theme of the tapes also peters out; ultimately they're not nearly as significant as one would expect given that they're referenced in the movie title.
There are some nice bits, including a child's use of a ham radio to call the police for help during the robbery, but despite some good moments, overall I found this film a messy disappointment. The potential is there but the execution isn't.
Cannon gives the film some verve with her portrayal of Connery's mercenary girlfriend. She's reluctant to feel things for him because her financial survival comes first.
The film's supporting cast includes Margaret Hamilton, Max Showalter (also known as Casey Adams), Alan King, Val Avery, and Conrad Bain.
The movie was filmed in New York locations by Arthur J. Ornitz. The musical score was by Quincy Jones.
A note on the rating: This film is rated PG. Given the content and language, I'm surprised it's not rated R, but I find that sometimes older films' ratings don't seem to match up with modern practices. I've found a PG rating in the '70s was sometimes "harder," and I suspect the rating was taken more seriously, whereas today many people seem to think PG means "for the whole family."
Thanks to Kino Lorber for providing a review copy of this Blu-ray.
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posted by Laura @ 4:00 PM
9 Comments:
Max Showalter bought lumber from my father and as a consequence was a guest at my wedding to Claude and a featured actor in The Dead Heat, with Rita Gam, Marty Brill, Anne Johnson, and my close friend forever, David Grayson. Jan Welt shot and directed, ki produced, wrote, and played the essential male part. We shot it in one week and spent more than a year in post-production. I have no idea what happened after that. My father was famous for befriending talent, Katharine Hepburn, Don Meredith, and some other people I never met.
The reason I put something up on this is, Max alternated shooting Lumet's picture with mine.
Barry, this is interesting about Max Showalter and the unreleased THE DEAD HEAT(circa 1970-71). What was the movie about?
It was a big-city take on The Lady From Shanghai, with a different sensibility, edgier but less effective, and designed to be completed on a tight shooting schedule, which it was, but it turned out flat and dull.
Barry, thank you for this interesting information.
How did you become involved with THE DEAD HEAT movie project and who has this un-released movie today, if it still exists?
Walter, I created The Dead Heat, wrote the screenplay, organized the casting, raised the financing, and played what I call the Dick Powelll part. Everything made sense to me until we got to the finished product. I was overly ambitious, and some wonderful people cooperated right to the end.
I have no idea where the various prints are today or the negative, as fifty-three years have gone by. An experiment, perilous.
Barry, thank you for the interesting memories. I'm sure it was quite a learning experience for you.
Walter, I had already been involved in several fairly good projects, this one was an early attempt to do what Edward Burns did successfully with The Brothers McMullen. Had I not been it would not have come together, but my intention had been to direct, not play, but no one liked the actors chosen initially for either the Max Showalter part or the one for an imaginary Dick Powell. More time, more money would probably have made the film work, but that was not to be. Ed Burns became my hero, and his little film made nearly 20 million dollars and won Sundance.
....had I not been in it...more time for production details...
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