St. Ives (1976)

One of my all time favorites.

Lack of good storyline.

I cannot think of one single thing that I would change about this film. The acting is incomparable, the directing deft, and the writing poignantly brilliant.

I enjoyed watching this film and would recommend other to give it a try , (as I am) but this movie, although enjoyable to watch due to the better than average acting fails to add anything new to its storyline that is all too familiar to these types of movies.

In this refreshing change of pace for Bronson, he portrays a novelist and former crime reporter on the trail of stolen file belonging to an eccentric John Houseman. As Bronson pursues the pilfered files, a number of bodies turn up dead, with no apparent suspect other that St Ives !. Each time he is cleared, inching closer to recovering the files and nabbing the culprit ! Jacqueline Bissett is the beautiful assistant to Houseman, whoi seems to take an immediate liking to the frustrated novelist. Dana Elcar turns in his best performance ever as the Police Captain trying to make sense of it all .A great cast, likable performance by Bronson and an interesting ending make this an enjoyable film effort. Highly recommended for Bronson fans.

Warner Bros. have been at their busiest in 1976. Charles Bronson who was known 2 years earlier with "Death Wish" put a touch of magic in "St. Lives". Bronson plays Raymond St. Ives, a crime writer, and former cop who gets intrigued with a burglar named Abner Procane (John Houseman, 1902-88) whose journals got stolen from his safe. He gets St. Ives involved to deliver $100, 000 to the people responsible. The first attempt resulted in the death of the person at the laundromat. Then more people get killed, including the motorcycle policeman Fran(Burr DeBenning). Cloak and Dagger have never been so fun. St. Ives couldn't get enough action as he would. Though he never used a gun much. This movie to me was very fun, it has some future stars: Daniel J. Travanti before "Hill Street Blues", Jeff Goldblum, Robert Englund, way, way before "V" and "A Nightmare on Elm Street". This movie is perfect for mystery lovers, and it can leave you very intrigued. A very big keeper here. I enjoyed this movie very much! 3.5 out of 5 stars

Bronson fans may appreciate this (as noted throughout the comments), but Ross Thomas/Oliver Bleek aficionados will be disappointed. None of the superb dialog, efficient language, or 'wisdom' of Thomas' work cuts through the movie. This is especially true if you know the book from which it is based ('The Procane Chronicles').One of the things that makes Thomas an excellent read is his ability to not spell out the motivations of every character. Often, the reader is left to piece things together. In the context of the movie, however, it just doesn't work...Bronson's motivation never really makes sense (in the books, his reluctance to participate is interesting, for example).I was compelled to finish watching it, however. I had hoped for more. I suspect I will enjoy other Bronson films quite a bit more, as my expectations will differ.

I used to live down the street from Ross Thomas in DC and never had the chance to meet him. According to a story in the POST, Thomas and his wife went out to Hollywood to see the filming. Bronson told him "I didn't read the book." Thomas replied "That's OK. I didn't see your last movie." Bronson was not Thomas' or my idea of the St. Ives character. St. Ives was a thinking man's detective with a wry sense of humor. Bronson was capable of wry humor but he was miscast if you had read the books. I think it was the Thomas novel filmed which is a shame. I think Charles Durning starred in a made-for-TV movie where he played a similar character who is a professional go-between.