Ed-Shullivan Retired NFL Hall Of Famer Jim Brown, and an all star cast including the likes of Diahann Carroll, Donald Sutherland, Ernest Borgnine, Walter Matthau, Warren Oates, Julie Harris, James Whitmore, and even with eye candy Joyce Jameson could not hold my attention long enough in this rather drab action/crime film. I guess the producers felt with the salaries they were spending on an all star cast the movie couldn't help but be a box office bonanza. Unfortunately a weak and an overdone and predictable script outweighed the star power featured in this slow moving action/crime film.Jim Brown sets out to first test and then recruit his band of four (4) crime specialists which takes up the first 30 minutes of the film's storyline. The next 30 minutes or so is where it gets really boring as this crew of crime specialists sets out to rob the LA Coliseum while the NFL Los Angeles Rams are on the field playing the Green Bay Packers. Sounds interesting doesn't it? Don't hold your breath. This part of the film was a snorefest.Now we get to the latter half of the film where the gang is supposed to split their heist six ways, equal shares including one share for Julie Harris for financing the heist. But wait...someone kills the only innocent party who is holding the money for the mastermind thief Jim Brown, and accidentally the murderer stumbles upon Jim Brown's heist money, a cool $550,0000.00. So the gang turns on each other and are really peeved at Jim Brown because they think he double crossed them all. Sound like a familiar plot? Oh Yeah. Although the crimes intended location is different, an NFL football stadium (to encourage fans of the NFL's Hall Of Famer running back and film star Jim Brown to see this film) compared to the 1960's Ocean's 11 film in which the heist takes place in a Las Vegas Casino. The two films comparison ends right there.The best part of the film was the music score by Quincy Jones. Other than that the film would be a pass for me. Disappointing to say the least.I give it a 4 out of 10 rating.

seymourblack-1 Donald E Westlake's series of Parker novels (written under the pseudonym, Richard Stark) has been a rich source of material for filmmakers and the author's hard-boiled anti-hero has an appeal that seems to transcend time. Curiously, in most of the movies, Parker's name has been changed with him featuring as Walker in "Point Blank" (1967), Macklin in "The Outfit" (1973) and Porter in "Payback" (1999). In "The Split" he appears as McClain (Jim Brown), a professional thief who returns to L.A. after an absence of some years to work with his old friend Gladys (Julie Harris) in planning a major football stadium robbery.With their plan formulated and Gladys providing the financial backing, McClain identifies some possible recruits for their gang and puts each one through a challenge to make sure that they have the skills required to carry out the heist successfully. Tough guy, Bert Clinger (Ernest Borgnine), getaway driver Harry Kifka (Jack Klugman), safe-cracker Marty Gough (Warren Oates) and hit-man Dave Negli (Donald Sutherland) all come up to standard and the robbery of the ticket money from a sold-out Rams game at the L.A. Coliseum is soon put into action.The brilliantly-executed heist enables the gang to make off with more than $500,000 which McClain leaves with his ex-wife Ellie (Diahann Carroll). She agrees to keep the loot in her apartment and he intends to split the money between everyone in the gang on the following day. This arrangement hits an unforeseen problem when Ellie's lecherous landlord Herb Sutro (James Whitmore), tries to rape her, before killing her and stealing the money. Detective Lieutenant Walter Brill (Gene Hackman) soon deduces who'd killed Ellie and after shooting Sutro takes the stolen money which he then keeps in his own possession.None of the gang-members believe that the stolen money has simply disappeared and after having been subjected to some vicious treatment, McClain manages to escape and then co-operates with Brill on a violent course of action which enables them both to achieve their personal objectives.The 1960s was a low-point in the history of film noir primarily because the style was not really compatible with the general optimism of that decade. "The Split" is one of the best noir offerings of the period because of its plot (which begins routinely but really comes to life in third act), its well-directed action sequences and Burnett Guffrey's wonderful cinematography. It also boasts a superb cast of actors who are all excellent individually and collectively.Jim Brown's McClain is interesting because in the earlier parts of the movie he seems to be a natural leader with a quiet authority but his actions after he co-operates with Brill, bring out another aspect of his character which is both surprising and credible. Warren Oates provides the pick of the supporting performances, the high-point of which is a hilarious scene in a bar where he gets picked up by a prostitute. Quincy Jones' score and the title song by Billy Preston are also enjoyable and very much in keeping with the time in which the story's set.

virek213 The books of crime novelist Donald Westlake (usually writing as "Richard Stark") have made for some fairly interesting movies for almost half a century now. The first real one was in 1967, when his novel "The Hunter" was the basis for the John Boorman-directed cult classic POINT BLANK (with Lee Marvin); and there have been others: THE HOT ROCK (with George Segal and Robert Redford, from 1972); THE OUTFIT (with Robert Duvall and Robert Ryan, released in 1974); and BANK SHOT (with George C. Scott, also released in 1974).And then there's 1968's THE SPLIT.Based on Westlake's book "The Seventh", the film is a classically themed Hollywood heist film, involving a group of thieves robbing the cash office at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum during a playoff game between the Los Angeles Rams and the Atlanta Falcons. Former NFL legend Jim Brown, who turned to acting after retiring from the Cleveland Browns in 1965 and became a star in Robert Aldrich's 1967 classic THE DIRTY DOZEN, is the leader of this group that includes his fellow DIRTY DOZEN cast members Donald Sutherland and Ernest Borgnine; Jack Klugman (one of the jurors in the 1957 classic TWELVE ANGRY MEN); and veteran character actor Warren Oates. The heist goes off with almost laser-like perfection, but it's what happens thereafter--the complications; the screw-ups; and the betrayals--that are the real payoff. Gene Hackman, who had at the time recently leaped to acting prominence as a result of his role in BONNIE AND CLYDE, portrays a seedy Los Angeles cop (perhaps presaging his Oscar-winning turn in THE FRENCH CONNECTION); and Diahann Carroll and Julie Harris are the women involved. James Whitmore plays a superbly seedy landlord at Carroll's apartment.By 21st century standards, this must seem terribly old-fashioned: there are no hyper-violent, over-the-top stunts, no CGI bloodshed, or any of that extraneous junk. And this is clearly a film of the late 1960s, in terms of costumes, hairstyles, and all of that—this and, of course, the fact that the Rams were L.A.'s pro-football team too. And yet, even though it doesn't necessarily stand out among the many great crime heist films, from Stanley Kubrick's THE KILLING to Sam Peckinpah's THE GETAWAY, or even the 1988 blockbuster DIE HARD, there's still something hugely fascinating about THE SPLIT, in terms of the way suspense is built up. Perhaps part of the reason it isn't as well-known as it should be is that the director, British-born Gordon Flemyng, was not a known entity, save for a couple of episodes of the TV series "The Avengers", and the 1965's DR. WHO AND THE DALEKS. All the same, though, the cast still does well under Flemyng's direction, with very good cinematography by Burnett Guffey (who won an Oscar for BONNIE AND CLYDE), and a taut, early action film music score by Quincy Jones, who had done major work on THE PAWNBROKER, IN THE HEAT OF THE NIGHT, and IN COLD BLOOD. This was also the first film to be released following the establishment of the movie ratings system by the MPAA where the for-adults 'R' rating was placed, even though it is closer to a 'PG-13' rating by today's ultra-violent standards.Imperfect and dated as it is at times, I'd still give THE SPLIT a '7' rating, simply because of the surface pleasures of the piece.

phillindholm An underrated actioner from the Swinging Sixties, ''The Split'' boasts an incredible cast. Though former football great Jim Brown gets star billing, the meaty parts go to such reliable performers as Julie Harris, Ernest Borgnine, Jack Klugman,Gene Hackman, James Whitmore Warren Oates and Donald Sutherland. The story, about a well-planned and well-executed robbery (which takes place during a Football Game at the L.A Coliseum)is taut and mean.Hard-Bitten Harris and Career Criminal Brown hatch the plot, and it's up to him to round up a suitable group of thugs capable of pulling it off. And a nastier bunch has seldom been seen on screen. Donald Sutherland, in an early part as a psychopathic sadist, really makes his presence felt, as do Borgnine, Klugman and Oates (as usual.) As the leader of this group, Brown has a rather one note part. He's given little room for displaying anything much besides toughness. Diahann Carroll is wasted once again, as his ex-wife, who still loves him, and though she's the only ''good'' character in the story,she's supposedly tainted by her association with Brown. On the sidelines are seedy landlord Whitmore, and crooked cop Hackman. Both are excellent, but it's Julie Harris, successfully cast against type as the ''Brains''behind the scheme, who comes close to stealing the picture.(And, considering the rest of the cast, that's no small achievement.)Still, Hooker Joyce Jameson gets the best line, when she tells prospective client Oates: ''If you catch anything from me, it WON'T be a cold ''. Naturally, the real tension comes toward the end of the story, when the gang turn on each other, but until then, there's still plenty worth seeing.Yes, the ''Thieves Fall Out'' plot has been done before, but it's the twists and turns this movie takes that provide the excitement. Director Gordon Flemying maintains a brisk pace throughout, slowing down only for the obligatory ''love scenes''.The photography is excellent, and the same goes for Quincy Jones moody score (available on cd). The other technical credits are equally fine. This month, the ''Warner Archives'' will release the film, for the first time on home video. The DVD will be in it's original Anamorphic (Panavision) Widescreen aspect ratio, and, judging from the sample clip provided, should look fine. Hopefully, the snappy Theatrical Trailer will be provided as well. As the ads for the film proclaimed: ''Watch what happens when it's time for ''The Split''!.