Friday, September 23, 2016

The Squeeze (1977)

Director: Michael Apted

Writers: Leon Griffiths, James Tucker

Composer: David Hentschel

Starring: Stacy Keach, David Hemmings, Edward Fox, Stephen Boyd, Carol White, Freddie Starr, Hilary Gasson, Rod Beacham, Stewart Harwood, Alan Ford, Roy Marsden

More info: IMDb


Plot: A gang kidnaps a women and her daughter to extort money from her rich husband. He and her down on his luck ex-husband who's an ex cop, decide to try to deal with the kidnappers themselves.



My rating: 7.5/10

Will I watch it again?

Fans of Alan "Bricktop from SNATCH (2000)" Ford are going to love seeing him in his first theatrical film role.  It's a small roll but he's peppered throughout the film and he's got quite a few lines.  It's amazing what a difference of 27 years makes in a person's face.  Speaking of that, I didn't recognize Stephen Boyd (one of his last films before he died in '77).  The only thing I remember him was in BEN-HUR (1959).  The performances are strong and the story and pacing are good, too.  Keach's accent wavers all over the place from his normal American accent to Cockney or even imitating Carey Grant.  All we know is that he's been in London for a few years having once worked with Scotland Yard so he could be a US ex-pat and had assimilated the accent.  I'm getting way too deep into this but it was kind of odd hearing his accent change from one scene to another.  It didn't hurt the picture from where I'm sittin'.  It's a good movie and fans of Eurocrime should especially dig it right down to the groovy score that accompanied Eurocrime pictures.  There's a nice balance of time spent between Naboth (Keach) and the gang.  The violence and nudity are nicely spread out without an abundance (or lack of) either.  And the ending?  It's lives up to the word climax.  In the span of maybe 6 minutes the movie roars into action & tension until the credits roll.  Very nice!



No comments:

Post a Comment