Tony Rome (1967)

Am i the only one who thinks........Average?

This is a gorgeous movie made by a gorgeous spirit.

The movie's not perfect, but it sticks the landing of its message. It was engaging - thrilling at times - and I personally thought it was a great time.

The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

The guy Sinatra is looking for throughout the film is named Nimmo. I just couldn't let that go by without comment. This is good light entertainment. Florida in the 1960's is not bad to look at. A few good laughs thrown in. All in all not a bad flick. Ms. Rowlands looked incredible. Almost Grace Kelly good looking. St. John was good. Conte was good. Simon Oakland did his usual great job. Oakland must have been working somewhere every day of the 60's and 70's. And Frank was Frank.

Copyright 10 November 1967 by Arcola-Millfield Productions. Released through 20th Century-Fox. New York opening simultaneously at the Astor and the Murray Hill: 15 November 1967. U.S. release: 10 November 1967. U.K. release: 21 January 1968. Australian release: 29 February 1968. Sydney opening at the Regent. 9,898 feet. 110 minutes.SYNOPSIS: Tony Rome is a Miami private eye who lives on his boat, the Straight Pass. Summoned by his ex-partner, Ralph Turpin, who runs a motel, Tony removes a drunken socialite, Diana Pines, and takes her home to her rich father, Rudolph Kosterman, and her stepmother, Rita. Kosterman hires Tony to discover what troubles Diana.NOTES: Last film of long-time (since 1946) Hollywood writer, Richard L. Breen (A Foreign Affair, Miss Tatlock's Millions, Top o' the Morning, Appointment with Danger, Niagara, Titanic, etc.) who died before finishing the script. Novelist Marvin H. Albert was brought in to tidy up. Location scenes filmed in Miami, Florida. Sinatra's first film as a detective. A sequel, "Lady in Cement", was released in 1968.COMMENT: It is only on rare occasions that I can remember the gags in a film — when they are so screamingly funny, I keep laughing them over and over as I leave the theatre. I can remember three from Tony Rome. Sinatra, being accosted by a gun-man. "Good evening", snarls the gun-man. "How are ya?" asks Sinatra; Conte, referring to a suspect: "This guy has so many aliases, he could start his own telephone book!"; Sinatra, bribing a reluctant witness who then waffles: "I don't know. Have you got another twenty? Are you sure you're not a cop?" — "You ever hear of a cop that had another twenty?"Sinatra is perfect in the title role and the supporting cast is most interesting. A fine assortment of characters are lovingly etched under director Gordon Douglas' tutelage, while action director Buzz Henry (who also plays the elusive Nimmo) uses the vast CinemaScope screen to effectively put over some really terrific material that will have audiences on their toes. The plot spun by Marvin H. Albert and the late Richard L. Breen keeps one guessing and alert throughout its wonderfully complicated trails. Joseph Biroc's DeLuxe Color, Panavision camera most persuasively captures all the travelogue (and not so touristy) vistas of Miami, from sparkling playgrounds to dingy strip-clubs.So many interesting players highlight the cast, I simply don't have space to commend them all here, but must draw attention to boxer Rocky Somebody Up There Likes Me Graziano, legendary Hollywood restaurateur Mike Romanoff, nightclub comedian Shecky Greene, Batman series scriptwriter Stanley Ross, and newcomer Deanna Lund who went on to star in the Lost in Space TV series.A Final Word or Two from Fox Publicity: In the face of all the logistical complications involved in filming a motion picture almost entirely on 65 widely separated locations, "Tony Rome" completed production almost four weeks ahead of schedule, an achievement virtually without precedent in the history of major motion picture production. Primarily responsible for this feat were Sinatra himself and director Gordon Douglas. It was Sinatra's phenomenal verve and energy which booted the production along at this fantastic clip, and "one-take" Douglas who was always ready when Sinatra was. Frank is one actor who hates directors like William Wyler who take forever to line up shots.

This is an interesting and very modern detective film. Frank Sinatra plays the title role--a private detective who seems very cool and disaffected. Of the three detective shows he made in the late 60s, I'd rate this one #2--behind the superior film "The Detective". However, this exceptional film is not related to "Tony Rome" or its sequel "The Lady in Cement". Regardless, Sinatra's world-weary performances were excellent--even if he seemed to try to make it look like he's not trying.The film begins with Tony doing what seems like a very mundane and not at all dangerous task--bringing home a drunk young lady to her rich daddy (Simon Oakland). Oddly, however, this good deed ended up leading to an apparently minor task--to find the young lady's missing earring. And, this task led to murder...in fact, a LOT of murders and mayhem. By late 60s standards, this film is awfully violent and Tony isn't exactly always the macho hero. Although he generally gets the best of it, he, too, gets the crap knocked out of him a few times in this rough and tumble film.As I said, I preferred Sinatra's "The Detective", but not by much. "Tony Rome" is a very good private eye film--a bit like a grittier version of "The Rockford Files"...minus most of the laughs. It's also odd that Tony is NOT the perfect manly sort of hero--especially since he repeatedly shows a stronger desire to wrap up the case than unwrap the very alluring Jill St. John--who spends much of the movie pursuing Tony. A very good film--especially since the mystery turns out to be a very interesting one. Worth your time.By the way, a couple interesting parts in the film are a cameo by the ex-champ Rocky Graziano as well as a VERY unusual sort of role for the comic Shecky Greene. Also, I just loved Tony's line "This is not a family. Just a bunch of people living at the same address." Priceless and indicative of the sort of smart-allecky stuff he tosses about during the film.

The detective genre experienced a brief comeback after the success of the movie Harper in 1966, a movie that Frank Sinatra passed on. But after seeing his buddy Dean Martin having success with his Matt Helm series, Sinatra decided to do Tony Rome in hopes that it would be the first in a series as well. Tony Rome is very similar to Harper in plot and tone, leading me to assume that Sinatra must of regretted not doing Harper after all.Harper was a flawed but entertaining film, Tony Rome is also flawed but not as entertaining, mainly due to the fairly uninteresting plot, not the actors. The actors are all game. The actresses aren't given a whole lot to do, other than sit and be window dressing. Jill St. John has some amusing scenes, but Gena Rowlands and Sue Lyon are wasted. Sinatra and the director Gordon Douglas had already worked together before, on the Rat Pack film Robin and the 7 Hoods in 1964. And after doing Tony Rome they would quickly follow that up with The Detective and Lady in Cement in 1968, which are also flawed but watchable.