A strange film with a good cast and excellent San Francisco locations, circa 1961. Somehow, during the Korean War, Matt, a soldier played by Jeffrey Hunter saved the life of Vince another soldier, played by David Janssen. Matt has pretty much forgotten the incident--maybe due to a metal plate now in his head. So he's shocked when one day Vince turns up at his door, wanting to rekindle their wartime camaraderie. Things appear to start on the wrong foot, when Vince flirts openly (and mutually) with Matt's wife Nina (Stella Stevens). But Matt hardly minds, since he's had it with materialistic, alcoholic, verbally abusive nymphomaniac Nina. So, when she insists that Vince stay in their guest room, we can assume adulterous hanky-panky is in the future. Matt really doesn't mind too much--he's having an affair with the office secretary.
Very shortly after arriving, Vince reveals his true reason for turning up out of the blue: he has a plan to get his hands on $3 million in a semi-honest scheme (not really), and he'll need Matt's help. Manipulative Vince convinces Matt to play along and things go very badly. There's some entertaining early 60s-style violence and a pretty decent car chase that serves as a partial tour of San Francisco, well shot in widescreen black-and-white. The problem with the film comes in when it tries to tie Matt's marital troubles with the criminal events. It just doesn't work very well. But there are some fun arguments between Matt and Nina (Ms Stevens doing well, delivering very choice dialog). Then there is that party crowd: a group of neighborhood swingers we see first at one of Nina's booze-soaked gatherings (featuring Martini-filled water pistols), and later when they burst into Matt and Nina's obviously looking for an orgy. It's all completely implausible, but it's hard not to keep watching. No spoilers here about other somewhat interesting plot developments. This was directed by accomplished actor Edmund O'Brien, and if he had reined things in it might have just been dull. So, odd as it is, this movie merits a look, especially for fans of the period.
Very shortly after arriving, Vince reveals his true reason for turning up out of the blue: he has a plan to get his hands on $3 million in a semi-honest scheme (not really), and he'll need Matt's help. Manipulative Vince convinces Matt to play along and things go very badly. There's some entertaining early 60s-style violence and a pretty decent car chase that serves as a partial tour of San Francisco, well shot in widescreen black-and-white. The problem with the film comes in when it tries to tie Matt's marital troubles with the criminal events. It just doesn't work very well. But there are some fun arguments between Matt and Nina (Ms Stevens doing well, delivering very choice dialog). Then there is that party crowd: a group of neighborhood swingers we see first at one of Nina's booze-soaked gatherings (featuring Martini-filled water pistols), and later when they burst into Matt and Nina's obviously looking for an orgy. It's all completely implausible, but it's hard not to keep watching. No spoilers here about other somewhat interesting plot developments. This was directed by accomplished actor Edmund O'Brien, and if he had reined things in it might have just been dull. So, odd as it is, this movie merits a look, especially for fans of the period.