cult film freak: WARREN BEATTY & SUSANNAH YORK SHUFFLE 'KALEIDOSCOPE'

Written by James M. Tate / 3/02/2022 / No comments / british , clive revill , gambling , romantic comedy , sixties , spy , susannah york , thriller , warner archives , warren beatty

WARREN BEATTY & SUSANNAH YORK SHUFFLE 'KALEIDOSCOPE'

3/02/2022 | No comment

Year: 1967 Rating: ***1/2

The famous scene in THUNDERBALL, the first James Bond feature featuring supervillain Bloefeld, has his associates seated around a table, wondering which one of them will be found out as a traitor... for then to die in front of everyone...

And the same thing happens here with jovially sinister, talky antagonist Eric Porter as Dominion, more like Le Chiffre from CASINO ROYALE since American import cat burglar Warren Beatty is sent by British police to break the bank with a single night's poker match on the baddie's home turf, a castle with groovy interior befitting the rest of the cheerfully dated late-60's aesthetic...

Warren Beatty in KALEIDOSCOPE

Meanwhile the twist has already occurred, and is the main plot since Beatty's roving gentleman bandit Barney Lincoln had long broken into the KALEIDOSCOPE factory to mark each card...

So the best sequences occur before he's forced the reluctant spy-type mission... when he keeps winning hands at a plush casino, providing Beatty the kind of breezy role he's good at...

Susannah York in KALEIDOSCOPE

And with gorgeous blonde Susannah York... daughter of lawman Clive Revill... as a quirky ingenue, when the stakes are raised and cheating is no longer an option, there's a decent amount of plot-thickening suspense within the overall romantic-comedy aspect...

Making American director in England Jack Smight's KALEIDOSCOPE a nifty time-filler that never tries for greatness, or even very-goodness... and that's perfectly alright.

Susannah York in KALEIDOSCOPE

Clive Revill in KALEIDOSCOPE

Eric Porter in KALEIDOSCOPE

Warren Beatty in KALEIDOSCOPE

Susannah York in KALEIDOSCOPE

Warren Beatty in KALEIDOSCOPE

Share This Post :

Tags : british , clive revill , gambling , romantic comedy , sixties , spy , susannah york , thriller , warner archives , warren beatty

James M. Tate

No comments:

Post a Comment

Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.

FAVORITES SHORTLIST

1)OTLEY 2)HELL IS A CITY 3)ROBBERY 4)THE FEARMAKERS 5)CANYON PASSAGE 6)VIOLENT SATURDAY 7)HOT CARS 8)JUNGLE STREET 9)THE CROWDED SKY 10)THE ROARING TWENTIES 11) ANATOMY OF A MURDER 12)SHARKS' TREASURE 13)SWEENEY TWO 14)RAIDERS FROM BENEATH THE SEA 15)HARDCORE 16)THE BREAK 17)WHITE HEAT 18)AL CAPONE 19)HIDDEN FEAR 20)FALLEN ANGEL 21)NIGHT CREATURES 22)THE ASPHALT JUNGLE 23)ASH WEDNESDAY 24)THE SYSTEM 25)AIR PATROL 26)THE STONE KILLER 27)EASY LIVING 28)WILLIAM CONRAD'S BRAINSTORM 29)FRENZY 30)THE MAN FROM LARAMIE 1)DANA ANDREWS 2)JAMES CAGNEY 3)STANLEY BAKER 4)MARLON BRANDO 5)CHARLES BRONSON1)VIRGINIA MAYO 2)SUE LYON 3)GENE TIERNEY 4)MERRY ANDERS 5)FAYE DUNAWAY DIRECTORS 1)JACQUES TOURNEUR 2)RICHARD FLEISCHER 3)VAL GUEST 4)STANLEY KUBRICK 5)OTTO PREMINGER 6)ORSON WELLES 7)JOHN GUILLERMAN 8)JOHN LANDIS 9)JOHN CARPENTER 10)MICHAEL WINNER