El atraco al estadio

Richard Stark's novel "The Seventh" becomes a great-looking all-star heist flick with a football backdrop which, unfortunately, completely falls apart in the final quarter. Drifting thief, apparently a genius at concocting schemes and rounding up partners, comes up with a brilliant plan to rob the cash-office at the Los Angeles Coliseum during a football game. Selecting his ex-con cohorts by means of making them display their muscles (not especially their skills) is rather perplexing, though it works for the movie. What doesn't work is a sharp left turn in the narrative about an hour into the proceedings, with an absolutely unbelievable (and unforgivable) turn of events pitting the robbers against each other. This ridiculous third act smacks of desperation, and leaves Gene Hackman (as a somewhat dirty detective) with nothing but absurdity to play opposite. The rest of the cast does well until the screenplay drops the ball, and Burnett Guffey's cinematography is first-rate. *1/2 from ****

Star and a half Maltin review is a bit discouraging for watching THE SPLIT. And yet it`s great to say that Maltin is horribly wrong in his case, sibce THE SPLIT delivers loads of cool soft-noir.

Gordon Flemyng, the British film and TV veteran shapes a posh and groovy heist flick about a post robbery split gone bad. The cast is masterful, Jim Brown does a great Wastlake/Stark character up there with Lee Marvin in POINT BLANK and Mel Gibson in THE PAYBACK. The rest of the cast includes such hard-asses like Gene Hackman, Donald Sutherland, Warren Oates and Ernest Borgnine. So the movie emanates great energy on screen and Flemyng cuts it with typical British elegance, smart and sharp decisions.

Maybe THE SPLIT felt too calculated to Maltin, but to me, it represents the era when Hollywood entertainment still managed to assuredly deliver the authentic exploitation of a formula.

Great little heist number starring some of the finest actors ever to grace the silver screen. Jim Brown made only few films between his most famous outing, The Dirty Dozen, and his biggest claim to fame, the Blaxploitation films of the 1970s. The Split may well be the best of those, though ...tick...tick...tick... with George Kennedy would be a close second. Here, Brown turns in one of his best performances as McClain, a down on his luck career criminal looking to make a big score.

Jim Brown teams with two of his Dirty Dozen cohorts, Ernest Borgnine and Donald Sutherland, as well as Jack Klugman, Warren Oates and Gene Hackman. All give fine performances as do the film's leading ladies, Julie Harris and Diahann Carroll. Warren Oates is terrific here in one of his early roles. When compared to his later work, this shows just how versatile and actor he was. Gene Hackman is also excellent as Brille, a role which foreshadows the work he would do later in The French Connection. Keep an eye out for veteran character actor James Whitmore in a small but pivotal role as Diahann Carroll's creepy landlord.

Tight direction by Gordon Flemyng, interesting cinematography by Burnett Guffey, wonderful music by Quincy Jones, an effectively clever story and script by Richard Stark and Robert Sabaroff. The Split has a lot going for it. If you liked Peckinpah's The Getaway and Don Siegel's Charley Varrick, chances are you'll like The Split.

Highly recommended.

After football great Jim Brown died recently, I decided to watch two of his films he made after retiring from the sport that made him famous. I've long been interested in watching this one because I found out it was the first one to be rated R after the Motion PIcture Association of America (now simply reduced to Motion Picture Association) started doing the letter ratings system. R at the time meant that "no one under 16 admitted without parent or adult guardian" only raising the age limit to 17 two years later. Anyway, Brown ends up planning a heist of the box office earnings from a football game with Donald Sutherland, Ernest Borgnine (two of Brown's previous co-stars from The Dirty Dozen), Warren Oates, Jack Klugman, and Julie Harris in on the action. Diahann Carroll is his leading lady and Gene Hackman is a police detective on the trail. I liked most of the goings-on most of the time though I admit some scenes confused me. But The Split was really intriguing to me especially when Quincy Jones' score was used. So I recommend The Split for anyone looking for one of Jim Brown's early films. Next, I'll review him in El Condor.

An underrated actioner from the Swinging Sixties, ''The Split'' boasts an incredible cast. Though former football great Jim Brown gets star billing, the meaty parts go to such reliable performers as Julie Harris, Ernest Borgnine, Jack Klugman,Gene Hackman, James Whitmore Warren Oates and Donald Sutherland. The story, about a well-planned and well-executed robbery (which takes place during a Football Game at the L.A Coliseum)is taut and mean.Hard-Bitten Harris and Career Criminal Brown hatch the plot, and it's up to him to round up a suitable group of thugs capable of pulling it off. And a nastier bunch has seldom been seen on screen. Donald Sutherland, in an early part as a psychopathic sadist, really makes his presence felt, as do Borgnine, Klugman and Oates (as usual.) As the leader of this group, Brown has a rather one note part. He's given little room for displaying anything much besides toughness. Diahann Carroll is wasted once again, as his ex-wife, who still loves him, and though she's the only ''good'' character in the story,she's supposedly tainted by her association with Brown. On the sidelines are seedy landlord Whitmore, and crooked cop Hackman. Both are excellent, but it's Julie Harris, successfully cast against type as the ''Brains''behind the scheme, who comes close to stealing the picture.(And, considering the rest of the cast, that's no small achievement.)Still, Hooker Joyce Jameson gets the best line, when she tells prospective client Oates: ''If you catch anything from me, it WON'T be a cold ''. Naturally, the real tension comes toward the end of the story, when the gang turn on each other, but until then, there's still plenty worth seeing.Yes, the ''Thieves Fall Out'' plot has been done before, but it's the twists and turns this movie takes that provide the excitement. Director Gordon Flemying maintains a brisk pace throughout, slowing down only for the obligatory ''love scenes''.The photography is excellent, and the same goes for Quincy Jones moody score (available on cd). The other technical credits are equally fine. This month, the ''Warner Archives'' will release the film, for the first time on home video. The DVD will be in it's original Anamorphic (Panavision) Widescreen aspect ratio, and, judging from the sample clip provided, should look fine. Hopefully, the snappy Theatrical Trailer will be provided as well. As the ads for the film proclaimed: ''Watch what happens when it's time for ''The Split''!.