cult film freak: GARY LOCKWOOD IN ANTONIO ISASI'S 'THEY CAME TO ROB LAS VEGAS'

Gary Lockwood in THEY CAME TO ROB LAS VEGAS Year: 1968 Rating: ***1/2

Spanish auteur Antonio Isasi was definitely a fan of gangster films since almost every single shot of his heist-caper THEY CAME TO ROB LAS VEGAS epitomizes the classic crime genre's style and structure, making this a combination of steely homage and groovy/fast-paced 1960's kitsch, jazzy soundtrack and all...

Starring American import Gary Lockwood the same year he'd soar through Stanley Kubrick's 2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY, the biggest flaw is the budget spent on two other name-actors, Lee J. Cobb as the targeted armored car company owner, and Jack Palance as an insurance investigator with eyes on both Cobb and Lockwood...

From THEY CAME TO ROB LAS VEGAS aka LAS VEGAS, 500 MILLONES

Their roles are basically innocuous, especially Palance, over-pronouncing each syllable since, like any Spaghetti production, the dialogue's dubbed, sometimes badly: so any leftover money could've gone to then-budding character-actors (like Robert Duvall or Warren Oates) for Lockwood's edgy, double-crossing gang, providing more anticipated suspense and tension in what's an intriguing yet overlong/overly-complicated heist...

Wherein the first half (following a glorious blood-soaked robbery) fleshes-out the central caper with meticulous editing and creative camera angles, while the second takes place around the armored car that Lockwood first robs then buries in the desert, where, once underground, the claustrophobic screen-time stands still (as lawmen search vainly above)...

From THEY CAME TO ROB LAS VEGAS aka LAS VEGAS, 500 MILLONES

On the peripheral is a romance between Lockwood and Elke Sommer, connected to mob-backed Cobb: but her initial expository input eventually means little compared to the inevitable action she'll have practically nothing to do with...

Featuring a terrifically-maneuvered desert terrain helicopter, scorching flame throwers and a barrage of Western-style gunfights — overall making Isasi's VEGAS a really great presentation harboring a pretty good motion picture.