IslandGuru Who payed the critics

Exoticalot People are voting emotionally.

Fairaher The film makes a home in your brain and the only cure is to see it again.

Portia Hilton Blistering performances.

Woodyanders Cocky pickpocket Sky McCoy (an insipid performance by James Brolin, who looks mighty handsome, but projects all the charisma of a 200 pound block of wood) steals a microfilm from a purse on a bus that various government agents from different countries want for themselves.While the basic premise sounds pretty gripping and exciting, this movie alas fizzles more than sizzles due to Robert D. Webb's bland direction, a crippling paucity of tension, a plodding pace, and a blah script that gets bogged down in too much tedious talk. Fortunately, the solid acting from a capable cast just manages to keep this picture watchable: Jacqueline Bisset as the feisty Candy (Bisset looks positively ravishing in this film!), Claire Trevor as brassy old dame informant Sam Williams, Bob Courtney as the no-nonsense Captain Herrick, John Whiteley as slimy traitorous jerk Joey, and Gordon Mulholland as hard-nosed police chief Du Plessis. Moreover, the groovy jazz score by Bob Adams and Joe Kentridge does the right-on boppin' trick while David Millin's competent cinematography makes the most out of the gorgeous Cape Town scenery. This listless picture finally bursts to life towards the end with an fierce fist fight between Brolin and Whiteley, but it's a classic case of too little too late. A passable diversion at best.

jjnxn-1 Choppy, poorly directed remake of Pickup on South Street. James Brolin while attractive is bland in the lead never approaching the lowdown grit that Richard Widmark effortlessly gave the character in the original. This was one of Jacqueline Bisset's first roles and her inexperience is evident although at least part of the blame belongs with the director since her next few films, with stronger directors, show a marked improvement over her work here. Unsurprisingly the best performance in the film comes from Claire Trevor as the frowsy Sam but even she doesn't match the peerless performance of Thelma Ritter, considered by many her best work, in the first film. This was Claire's last film for 15 years until she made a delightful return as Sally Field's mother in Kiss Me Goodbye, a much better film than this, and then permanently retired. As for the rest of the film, everybody else gives terrible performances, scenes either just stop or start with a good deal of narrative flow missing and the photography is washed out and overly bright. Not an estimable credit on anybody's resume.

ozlock There is one redeeming feature: the gorgeous Ms Bisset. The acting is dreadful. Even Bisset is terrible. Forget the fact that it is a remake and forget great views of Cape Town (because this is a very dark film, and I don't mean noir).My first attempt at this submission was rejected because it contains less than ten lines, but what else is there to say?OK, I can say that even the music is formulaic in the sense that all spy movies were in the 60s. This is the sort of movie where you want to say "What were they thinking?"OK? It is hard to imagine that IMDb encourages wasting cyber space.

Robert J. Maxwell On the plus side, there are interesting shots of Capetown and of Table Mountain. Not that many people know what Capetown looked like in 1967. Not that many people know what country Capetown is IN for that matter, outside of social activists, gold speculators, and surfers. No, it's not near Provincetown. Also there are interesting shots of Jacqueline Bisset at her most -- well, let's use the word "appealing." Her looks are unimpeachable. James Brolin, young and handsome in a mannequin-like way, does pretty good impressions of Clark Gable and Ronald Reagan in other venues. But you have to ask. Why do they take a peerless piece of cynical and brutal trash like "Pickup on South Street" and do it in color with lesser performers and slipshod direction?Brolin simply can't SMIRK as well as Richard Widmark. And Bisset just looks too elegant, as opposed to the sluttish and overly made-up Jean Peters in the original. Compare the scenes in which the two actresses utter the same lines -- "You're talking like it was HOT, Joey." Bisset sounds as if she's commenting on the pepper pot soup at Bookbinder's Restaurant. With Peters you know exactly what she means. And Claire Trevor, a decent enough actress in her own right, shouldn't be asked to impersonate Thelma Ritter. Nobody on earth can imitate Thelma Ritter. Fuller's direction in the original was immediate and claustrophobic. His characters brimmed with verisimilitude. The actors here are going through their paces in settings that aren't nearly seedy enough. I'm leaving the politics aside.Stick with the original by all means.