Sitting Target (Douglas Hickox, 1972)

Was reading this great book about snooker’s bad boy and “people champion’s” Alex Higgins and died laughing few times when it came to his turbulent relationship and “adventures” with his good buddy Oliver Reed. I knew guy was fucking insane and all but reading trivia about him on IMDB I was again dying of laughter. Check this for instance:

He died of a heart attack in a bar after downing three bottles of Captain Morgan's Jamaica rum, eight bottles of German beer, numerous doubles of Famous Grouse whiskey and Hennessy cognac, and beating five much younger Royal Navy sailors at arm-wrestling. His bar bill for that final lunch time totaled 270 Maltese lira, almost £450.

On IMDB website I also read that he starred in Sitting Target which is the first British film to get X ratings just for the violent content. And since it also has Jill St. John from Tony Rome I naturally decided to check it out.

Can’t say I was disappointed because it’s not THAT violent. But it’s still excellent thriller with good prison escape and car chases and good looking women and all that. The best thing about it (beside animal like and totally out of control Reed) is it’s great ending. Final twist is totally unexpected and I didn’t see it coming at all.  

7/10

Tony Rome (Gordon Douglas, 1967)

PI mystery with Frank Sinatra. Sounds like a bad joke, but it’s - surprisingly - quite okay and definitely above average. I’m pretty sure it was adopted from Marvin H. Albert’s book especially for Sinatra and he created his character more like Lew Archer type than Phillip Marlowe which is okay. Or let’s say bearable.

Story involves lots of characters and gets really complicated, so ending doesn’t even need some big twist. For me it was rewarding enough that it ended and made sense. More or less…

I was a bit disappointed with performance of Gena Rowlands. She doesn’t seem to put any real effort into it and I would like to think she did just for the money to help her husband create one of his masterpieces Faces the following year. But on the other hand Jill St. John is charming (Slut... That's just a nickname. Only my dearest friends use it.) and total revelation to me. She does ring a bell but I honestly don’t really remember her from any movie. But in those few scenes she has she really steals this one from Frankie boy.

6/10