De la part des copains

Cold Sweet (1970)

** 1/2 (out of 4)

Charles Bronsplay plays Joe Martin, a man living a happy life with his wife (Liv Ullmann) and her daughter. All of that is thrown out the window when his past comes back to haunt him. Captain Ross (James Mason) demands that Joe use his boat for a drug trade and this leads to a cat and mouse game.

Terrence Young directs this entertaining if rather light weight action picture that fans of the action legend will enjoy while others will probably not be overly entertained by the thin plot. There's no question that the plot really isn't all that original and that a re-write certainly wouldn't have hurt. Even by 1970 we had seen countless movies dealing with the family man and his past catching up with him.

What keeps COLD SWEET moving and entertaining is the fact that you've got a wonderful group of actors. Bronson was just a natural at playing this soft-talking tough guys and he turns in a good performance. Both Ullmann and Mason certainly have much more important roles in their careers but it's still fun seeing them in a film like this. Jill Ireland plays a hippie chick and it's Luigi Pistilli who steals the picture as a cold-hearted bad guy.

COLD SWEET features some very good action scenes including the finale with an excellent sequence of a car going down the side of a cliff that is highly entertaining. Again, this is a fun action film but one wishes that there was a bit more to the story.

On the action 50 pack classics I'm watching many older movies for the first time,since i enjoy the Charles Bronson films i thought i would enjoy cold sweat,i was right its a good Italian/french/Belgium co production about a Korean war veteran(Charles Bronson)who moves on with his life after being involved with gangsters who were in the military with him,most notably is an army captain (james mason)gone bad, he holds Bronson's wife(Liv Ullman)and stepdaughter(yannick delulle)hostage there's some good car chases,fighting and some pg violence.Bronson's real life wife(Jill Ireland)plays the captains hipper girlfriend.its not as good as deathwish,but its a well made early Charles Bronson actioner. 8 out of 10.

'Cold Sweat' is a 70's actioner I was actually quite pleasantly surprised by. Charles Bronson plays a guy whose cronies have caught up with him after spending many years in jail for a crime that he fled from. He's in sanctuary in France with his wife (played, rather slummingly wouldn't you say? By Liv Ullmann), and what do you know, his evil friends from the past catch up with him and takes his whole family hostage so that they can complete the One More Job together. Bronson accepts, but since this is a Bronson film, He's Got Other Tricks Up His Sleeve. So begins a fun little cat and mouse game, mainly dealing with the daughter or other of the bad guys (played hilariously by James Mason) and the trade-offs Manson and Mason are fun to watch. There's lots of chases too! Wee! Finally, I just want to comment on the print of the film I saw on DVD. It looked somewhat banged up, but I thought it just added to the viewing aesthetic of the movie! I just felt I was in a New York grindhouse movie theater, with this double featured with say, Dolomite or something.

Though proudly billed as Terence Young's COLD SWEAT, this turned out to be a below-average international concoction: the plot is formulaic – albeit adapted from a novel by Richard Matheson – one that Bronson often returned to, of a man whose past catches up with him (in fact, I recently watched Sergio Sollima's similar but superior VIOLENT CITY [1970]).

The film is doubly disappointing, however, for wasting the talents of actors of the caliber of James Mason and Liv Ullmann – the latter clearly wishes she was elsewhere, while the former often resorts to hamminess (with a ridiculous American accent to match). As expected, the narrative flanks Bronson with real-life spouse Jill Ireland – here in perhaps her most embarrassing performance as a spoiled hippie brat; needless to say, the star more often than not lets his physique do the acting for him – but his is an undeniable screen presence and, as I've written elsewhere, he just happened to fit the bill for what was required of an action star in the late 60s/70s.

The supporting cast also includes Michel Constantin (who was also in VIOLENT CITY), "Euro-Cult" regular Luigi Pistilli, and Jean Topart – all of them appearing as members of Mason's gang, with the latter being the most villainous of the lot and who gets his just desserts in memorable fashion. The best thing the violent film has going for it are the plentiful and exciting action sequences, particularly a lengthy – if somewhat irrelevant – car chase towards the end (once again, the work of Remy Julienne). Though the budget DVD at least presented it in the correct aspect ratio, the print for COLD SWEAT (which, along with a few other Bronson titles, has fallen into the public domain) was still too soft and murky to do justice to its variety of European locations.

Charles Bronson takes his drearily and ultra-violent vendetta after his spouse , Liv Ullman and daughter , are kidnapped by a drug boss , James Mason , and his hoodlums: Michael Constantine , Luigi Pistilli , Jean Topart.

This brutal thriller contains noisy action , car chases , intrigue , and lots of violence among crooks . However , filmmaking and writing are average .Typical Bronson flick has Charles in his ordinary role as an avenger taking law on his own hands. Based on the novel by Richard Matheson called "Ride the nightmare" which is butchered to produce the ordinary vengeance movie .It boasts superior cast with prestigious secondaries as Luigi Pistilli, Michael Constantine , the great James Mason and Jill Ireland, Bronson's wife. Special mention for Jean Topart as a moronic henchman and Liv Ulmman who gives a nice acting as anguished and captured wife.

It displays an atmospheric and thrilling score by Michael Magne. Including evocative cinematography shot on location in Francia , Azul Coast. This turgid motion picture was regularly directed by the prolific Terence Young, including some flaws and gaps. Young was an uneven filmmaker with hits and flops. As he made three of the best Bond films :Doctor No , Thunderball, From Russia with love , he also directed other genres , Western : Red Sun , Dramas /intrigue : Klansman, Bloodline , Jigsaw man , The poppy is also flower, wait until dark ; Costumer : Adventures of Moll Flanders , Adventure : The Rover and WWII : Triple Cross .Rating 5,5/10 , acceptable and passable . The movie will appeal to Bronson fans. Charles does all that can be expect of him and he will reward his legions of enthusiasts.