Customer Reviews

Dead Heat on a Merry-Go-Round

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

This is a unique and sensational 60s caper -- very well-written. There's no exposition - nothing is telegraphed. You have to pay careful attention to all Coburn's moves to find out how they play out. You're not even sure what the score is `til the final 20 minutes. It's seriously ahead of its time, although its time may not have yet arrived still, because if this were made today they'd overplay the cynicism of the piece and not let it all unfold for the viewer without irony.

Though it has a low-key, hip 60s vibe, it has more of the feel of a subversive 70s entertainment. (I winced when I saw Rose Marie's prominent billing in the credits, fearing a garish Mad-Mad-World-style comic cameo. She has only a couple of scenes, though and she's terrific.) Coburn's never been better.

The picture's a little too long, but it's a complete knockout. Remembered today mainly for Harrison Ford's three lines as a bellboy, this a subtle little classic.

James Coburn is among my favorite actors -- he might not have been as handsome as, say, Cary Grant or Gregory Peck, nor as suave as Sean Connery or Rock Hudson, but he could carry a film as easily as any of these leading men. What Coburn brought to his roles, long before it became de riguer, was a steady but self-effacing cool, with quite a bit more humor than Steve McQueen or Lee Marvin, who approximated him physically. That his career did not go further is a mystery to me, but thank goodness we have the films he did make. Dead Heat on a Merry-Go-Round is a cryptic title until you get the reference in the film, but it's a fine hold-up movie, and the sort that keeps you guessing as to what will happen next.

Coburn plays Eli Kotch, a grifter who, among other things, charms his way out of prison by bedding the state's psychologist (Marian McCargo, a cross between Barbara Billingsley and Dina Merrill) before making his way across the country in a series of interesting cons that net him women and money. It's all to buy the scjematics for an airport international bank's security system, which he plans to crack with the help of his gang (Aldo Ray, Michael Strong, and Severn Darden, whom Coburn would again co-star with in the excellent The President's Analyst). At risk are the usual close calls, but what elevates Dead Heat on a Merry-Go-Round from the usual caper film is its focus on both character and location, giving the film a more introspective geography than most. Watching it, one can see hints to what later would become standard elements of both Tarantino and Coen Brothers films, and in fact, it's rather surprising in particular the latter chose to remake True Grit and not this film.

A special note must be made about Camilla Sparv, who plays Coburn's duped wife in this film. First of all, she is genuinely beautiful, and not just the standard icy blond, but her performance shows a grace and vulnerability that only a few actresses manage. She's no Audrey Hepburn or Ingrid Bergman, but her turn in this film, as well as the underrated farce Murderer's Row, suggests she should have had a better career than she managed.

Robert Webber, too, brings dimension to the role of a put-upon secret service chief who has to contend with a visit by a Russian premier that, along with protests at the Los Angeles Airport, makes for the sort of confusion that Kotch is counting on. Webber often played Madison Avenue types who were affable if scheming but slightly befuddled, but here his performance manages to give the character more sympathy than he could have had, especially given the time the film was made.

The movie is so good, it predicts what a superior film -- McQueen's The Thomas Crown Affair -- would accomplish much better two years later: deal with the romantic conflicts. Whereas that film makes Crown's uncertain romance with the one woman who might jeopardize the success of the crime central to the plot, this one only marginally does (though it does have a twist at the end that is on the order of Frank Sinatra Ocean's 11 in its irony).

That's a shame because both Coburn and Sparv do a ducj wonderful job of making audiences believe they could and should be a couple, which is especially challenging because Coburn plays that oft romanticized character in American film: the sociopath. Unlike Crown, who was simply bored and turns to crime for the challenge and the excitement, it's obvious that Kotch enjoys his duplicity and has very little feeling for anything or anyone else. Yet, in perhaps a greater con, we root for him.

Writer and director Bernard Girard made one for the ages with Dead Heat on a Merry-Go-Round. I just wish he'd made more films, and that Stu Phillips had scored them, too.

Ah the 60s - thin acting, thinner scripts. Rented because I'm a huge fan of heist capers. Unfortunately, 'Merry Go Round' is a rather fragile piece of filmmaking. Trying too hard to be clever and failing. Too coy to be slick. Too plastic to be real. And infinitely too convoluted to make any sense.

In this film, Coburn plays Eli Kotch, a con-man and Lothario thief who uses his skills pursuing housemaids in order to pry his way to the goodies; both literal and figurative téndrés des marchandises. It's a decent scam, but he has eyes on a much bigger prize. He's tired of making just enough until he has to do it all over again. So he plans on a heist that will set him up for life, one big score that will allow him to walk away and drink margaritas on a beach forever.

Seems pretty straight-forward, but the filmmakers pursue a plaintively obtuse and twisted path to reach that simple goal.

One issue I had, and it's only one to illustrate a point, was why Eli needed to recruit his 'assistant' from the east coast, only to have her relocate to the west coast? It's not explained, and I sincerely doubt there is an explanation. Not a reasonable or logical one at least. Again, that's just one issue. There are many more like it in this production.

It was the Sixties, and this kind of plot hole seems par for the course for many B-movies that did not go straight for the easy money via sexploitation or sensationalism. The mid-60s were a transitional period in Hollywood, a time where things were about to creatively explode as rogue filmmakers and independents were about to shakeup the industry for the next twenty years. And flat films of the old guard, like 'Merry Go Round', in many ways helped prepare for the coming new wave of cinema; a tepid calm before the amazing storm of unique vision and incredible exploration.

I have nothing but respect for Coburn, but his talent during this period is sketchy. Given the right role, he could compare favorably with the top stars of his time. But often, the weaknesses of his abilities revealed themselves as ridiculous overacting and overreach. He was always most believable as a carefree wisecracking hipster or a laconic cold manipulator. The effusive gentleman thief was never his game.

Overall, a convoluted mess with little action, poor characterizations, and a deeply unsatisfying end. I will say this though, due to the sheer length the film takes to finally execute the heist, there's a nice bit of building tension as you wonder if they get away with it. But that's not nearly enough of a payoff, much like what Eli himself receives, to recommend this to anyone but to the hardest hardcore fans of heist films or James Coburn.

good movie . the actor are good. the music is good the story is good the sound is outstanding. the color is great la airport is coloful

We are used to seeing James Coburn bigger than life. He may be here but blends in to the story and soon you think of him as Eli Kotch or who ever he is at the moment.

Eli Kotch is planning a large caper that will be masked by a visit by the Soviet Premier. He must make some quick cash to finance this plan. To do this he becomes many people and no one. Wooing maids to gain access to their employer's abodes and pilfering on a large scale. It is fun watching him manufacture his personality and background. He becomes very efficient at this and even the boldness (with that Coburn grimace) will impress you. As in "Waterhole #3" (see my review) he must chose between the girl and the money. Keep your eyes and ears open for the outcome. Shall justice prevail?

The President's Analyst ~ James Coburn

this movie is another great james coburn movie somewhat in thespirit of our man and in like flint, as well as presidents analyst. itfeatures a great coburn performance when he was in his prime in the 1960's. well worth the money.

Boring from beginning to end.
If I had seen it I wouidn't have bot it.
Why did I buy it?
Catchy title, James Coburn , 4 star reviews by Fan-atics.
I hope my buyer loves it.