LeonLouisRicci Cinema in the Year 1967 was in Somewhat of a Turmoil or Change. The Motion Picture Code was Disintegrating and Filmmakers were Caught in a Sort of Limbo Trying to Figure Out What was Expected, Acceptable to the Movie Going Public and Just How to Approach Previous Subject Matter Taboos and So Forth.In This one the On Screen Subject of Heroin and Heroin Addiction, Drug Trafficking and Related Events was Open for New and Previously Unexplored Content in Terms of "Entertainment". You Can See that in This Film it is a Fairly Realistic if Superficial Account of the Subject. But You can Also See the Restraint and Some Reluctance for the Sake of Good Taste and Caution.As a Movie it is Not Bad but Not All That Good. There is some Gritty Stuff Here and There and it is Handled Mostly as a Crime Thriller Story. Elements of Law Enforcement and the Mob are at the Forefront and the Tone and Style are Not Much More than a Ramped Up TV Show with Splashes of Big Screen Realism.Stella Stevens Shows Some Acting Chops, Especially in Her Drug Induced Stupor and David Mccallum is OK but there are No Signs that He Would Become a Major Star After His Run on the Man from U.N.C.L.E (1964-68). Actually, His Co-Star on the Series Robert Vaughn had a Much More Lucrative Movie Career. Telly Savalas and Ricardo Montalban did Go On to Some Success Outside Television . Mccallum did Continue to Work Mostly in Television to This Day.Overall, the Movie is Worth a Watch to Witness the Changing Face of Cinema as the Code was Crumbling, and for a Look at Some Very Popular TV Actors on the Big Screen Early On. But the Film is Objectively Not Much Better than Average Despite an Attempt at Exploring the World of Smack and its High-Level Distribution.

Pocketplayer OK...it's late and TCM is playing this flic so I decided to check it out. After all I'm house-sitting and don't have cable myself, so I'm taping movies. This movie came on around 1:00AM and I decided to video tape it.I like Telly Savalas and wondered how he would do in a lead role. David McCallum was known to me visually, but I wondered how he would do as a lead. Stella Stevens looked good from any angle and surprisingly was spirited, not just a pretty face and curvy bod. Ricardo Montalban was known from the TV series, but I don't think I've really seen him in any early movies. In fact, I caught the actor from The Longest Yard and this is what I like about these older movies-you catch glimpses of actors who had roles in larger films.I thought the movie had a big feel about it despite McCallum's low key delivery. He was acting from the Clint Eastwood school, and Clint can pull that off as few can. This movie reminded me of a big budget film with B actors playing lead roles. The overall plot was decent, but like said previously, there were a lot of holes. I thought the heroin scene with Stevens was pretty advanced for that time period, even if it was the 60's. They charted some risky territory as her character was pinned down and forced to take the needle. Not the best of flics, but I'm going to keep the tape. I thought it was a decent movie and being 35 years old, there is a lot of grace given while watching. It's a lot better than most of what comes out of Hollywood today!

maisannes 2 out of 10Why even bother giving names to these plot advancers? It is a reach even to call them characters, since there is zero context, characterization or texture provided. "Supercop" infiltrates "Latin Drug Lord's" operation using "Blonde Moll" who is on the run from "Mob Guy." Who are these people? Apparently the director didn't care either, all he wanted was a few gun and knife fights to occur in front of a camera.Unfortunately for the viewer, the plot itself is just as underdeveloped. I defy anyone to explain why the Michael Conrad character exists, why Sol Madrid does 3/4ths of the things he does (or how he could be allowed by his superiors to do so), or why "Mob Guy" decides to reenact the desert hotel scene from Touch of Evil.The "mafia meeting" at the beginning is the silliest I have ever seen. And, no, this isn't supposed to be a comedy.David McCallum and Stella Stevens believe the best way to deliver lines in an "intense" scene is to yell them, otherwise, any inflection is superfluous.The only morsels of merit are seeing a completely unbelievable yet interesting way to smuggle drugs play out and Ricardo Montalban, who, despite the decent resumes of the other actors, is the only one who decided to employ his talents instead of pocketing his paycheck simply for showing up on the set.

aromatic-2 David McCallum plays the anti-Sam-Spade private eye in this wry latter-day film-noir-esque look at decadence in the late 60's. Telly Savallas and Rip Torn both are wonderful as the antagonists. As good a momento of its period as any film you will ever find.