DVD Review: TONY ROME / Gordon Douglas (1967)
December 1st, 2008 by Scott Marks
Tony Rome (1967)
Directed by Gordon Douglas
Written by Richard L. Breen from a novel by Marvin H. Albert
Starring: Frank Sinatra, Richard Conte, Jill St. John, Simon Oakland, Gena Rowlands, Sue Lyon, Lloyd Bochner, Lloyd Gough and Jilly Rizzo as “Card Player”
Photographed by Joseph Biroc in 
and DeLuxe Color
Running Time: 110 min.
Rating: 
Forgive my brief lapse of sequel dyslexia by reviewing Lady in Cement before Tony Rome.
The first voice you hear belongs to Frank Sinatra’s youngest and most successful daughter Nancy who lyrically cautions viewers that they had better lock up their daughters if they don’t want the character played by her father to get them. Nowhere near as homophobic or sexist as its sequels, Tony still begins with a zap zoom into a sexy butt, inexplicably match cut with a boxer’s behind. An hour later, Tony appears to have stepped into a reel of The Killing of Sister George.
Marvin H. Albert’s source material provides a Raymond Chandler-lite (The Little Sleep?) detective yarn perfectly suited for that season’s Sinatra vehicle. Tough monkey Tony quit the force and became a P.I. after his cop dad put a gun to his head and redecorated the apartment. Ralph Turpin, played by Robert J. Wilke, Written on the Wind’s bartender with a “hair trigger,” call his ex-partner to the hotel he now “dicks” at. Even though the dissolution of the partnership was acrimonious, Rome goes so far as accusing Turpin of getting his kicks hanging around schoolyards, Ralph stands behind upright Tony. He swears that “Georgia would sooner elect a colored governor” than Tony would rat out a source. Turpin calls in a favor and asks his old buddy to help cover for a rich dipsomaniac, Diana Pines (Sue Lyon), found passed out in one of the rooms. Diana eventually leads Rome to her wealthy adoptive family who before long all offer him $500 a day plus expenses to solve their personal mysteries. What entails involves the usual amount of dirty film noir secrets, stolen jewelry and, what else, homicide.
Tony lives on a houseboat and spends much of Lady in Cement dressed as a Miami beachcomber. Tony Rome’s Tony wears a dapper, man-tailored suit and cocked fedora that transform the Miami Beach gumshoe into something left over from the Songs for Swinging Lovers album cover.
Jill St. John takes ‘Rome’ by storm.
Continue reading DVD Review: TONY ROME / Gordon Douglas (1967)
Tags: detective film, DVD Review, film noir, Film Review, Frank Sinatra, gordon douglas, jill st. john, lady in cement, marvin h. albert, tony rome, tony rome reviewDVD Review: LADY IN CEMENT / Gordon Douglas (1968)
November 30th, 2008 by Scott Marks
Lady in Cement (1968)
Directed by Gordon Douglas
Written by Marvin H. Albert and Jack Guss based on Albert’s novel
Starring: Frank Sinatra, Raquel Welch, Dan Blocker, Martin Gabel, Pat Henry, Richard Conte, Lainie Kazan, Steve Peck, Richard Deacon, Christine Todd, Joe E. Lewis and B.S. Pulley
Running Time: 93 min.
Photographed by Joseph Biroc in and DeLuxe Color
Rating:
The third installment of the Gordon Douglas, Frank Sinatra so-called “Tony Rome” trilogy continues the series stellar display of fag bashing and obsessive depiction of women as props, or in this case shark bait.
Sinatra kicks off the proceedings by playing an underwater scene without once getting wet. His stunt double fends off a drugged, toothless shark before discovering a blond naked “broad” anchored in cement. He spends the rest of the picture traversing Miami and dispensing verbal sexual slurs to every chickie baby he meets. Emerging from a pool, a sizzling Raquel Welch instantly sizes up the five-foot-seven crooner’s game: “Shall I scream rape now or wait and phone in a complaint?” Without the benefit of so much as a word, Ms. Welch had perfectly pegged Tony Rome’s idea of interpersonal relationships.
This is a Frank Sinatra picture for people who couldn’t afford to shell out the $5.95 (1960 price) plus airfare and accommodations, to attend a Rat Pack summit live at the Sands in Vegas. No, he doesn’t sing and Dino, Sammy, Joey and the excommunicated Peter Lawford didn’t make this scene. Prior to From Here to Eternity, “The Voice” appeared in a string of whimsical studio musicals. After the horses’ head gag and an Oscar, Mr. Sinatra was always careful to maintain a separate career as a serious dramatic movie star. When it came to directors, Frank gave what he got. With the exception of a certain Ferris wheel incident on the set of Some Came Running, he freely granted Liza’s dad Vincente all the time and demands the master filmmaker required. For John Frankenheimer and George Axelrod’s controversial The Manchurian Candidate, executive producer Frank raised the money (ask me no questions, I’ll tell you no lies), consented to rehearsals, met every 6 am call time and put in a full’s day’s work. In other words, he did what he was handsomely being paid to do.
For others less gifted, he took the dough, showed up at noon and walked off the set at four. Ever wonder why so many of the lesser Sinatra vehicles were filmed in resort towns? The scripts, and subsequently the films, were structured around his swingin’ lifestyle. While in Vegas, Frank would perform two shows nightly, party till dawn, knock off a few broads, catch some daylight shut eye and devote a couple hours to picture making.
Continue reading DVD Review: LADY IN CEMENT / Gordon Douglas (1968)
Tags: dan blocker, detective film, DVD Review, Film Review, Frank Sinatra, gordon douglas, hugo montenegro, lady in cement, lady in cement review, marvin h. albert, Raquel Welch, tony romeFiled Under DVD, Reviews, Video Mashups