El temerario Ives

Cloak and dagger story , poorly acted , that finishes into strange and surprising goings-on . Abner Procane (John Houseman) , top L.A. burglar , finds that somebody stole his plans for next ambitious heist . He hires Raymond St. Ives (Charles Bronson acting is wooden just like being habitual in his roles as an investigator who finds out about dark motives) to resolve the simple theft , but it escalates into a large-scale robbery and killings . Here Charles plays a reporter who carries out an investigation , a former police journalist who agrees to recover the stolen ledges . But Ives (Bronson was about fifty-four years of age when here appeared) finds himself dealing with treason , killings and a twisted intrigue . There are also some policemen (Harris Yulin , Harry Guardino , all the cops who show up in the movie but one are corrupt) pursuit him . At the end it takes place a confusing caper about the stealing of an American electronics firm's huge bribe to an Arab oil sheik .

This light entertainment and standard Bronson movie is full of clichés , thrills , betrayal and murder . Confusing and heavy-handled screenplay from a novel by Ross Thomas titled 'The Procane Chronicle' , being slickly paced but dumb . This is a "detective 'film noir' homage" which "features a dense detective plot in the manner of classic 1940s 'film noir' private eye stories" . Taking and snatching dialog here and there from the 40s , such as : ¨Everytime we find a stiff , you're around¨ . Neither Bronson's presence , nor Lucien Ballard cinematography can rescue this routine thriller movie for implausibilities from a complex and silly screenplay . It starts off well enough as tough thriller , but long before the final you've left wondering just what's going on . This Charles Bronson movie was theatrically released between his pictures From noon till three (1976) and The White Buffalo (1977) , both of them starred by Bronson . This is one of the first films Charles Bronson made for producer Pancho Kohner and being ¨Messenger of the death¨ the final of ten teamings between producer Pancho Kohner and star actor Bronson . Regular acting by Bronson as a crime books writer , to negotiate the return of some engaging documents ; however , he seems tired and bored from the start . Nice and wide support cast , such as : John Houseman as the criminal mastermind , Maximilian Schell , Harry Guardino , Harris Yulin , Dana Elcar , Michael Lerner , Dick O'Neill , Burr DeBenning , Elisha Cook Jr. , Daniel J. Travanti , later of TV's ¨Hill Street Blues¨ and Jacqueline Bisset as the gorgeous , glamorous , mysterious Femme fatal . Furthermore , cameos by Robert Englund as henchman and Jeff Goldblum as Hood #3 , he also appeared in a bit cameo as a thug in Charles Bronson's earlier movie Death Wish (1974). Besides , atmospheric score by the usual Lalo Schifrin , composed in the seventies's style . And crisp and glimmer photography by Luicen Ballard .

The fare was regularly directed by J. Lee Thompson , shot in up and downs , the movie consistently skirts the issues it raises . It's narrated understanding as well as hardly . This movie represented the first of nine teaming of director 'J Lee Thompson' with star actor Charles Bronson . Thompson previously had a nice track record in the English cinema from 1950 until 1961 , directing good Western (McKenna's gold , White Buffalo) and all kinds of genres , as Sci-Fi (Conquest and Battle of planet of apes), terror (reincarnation of Peter Proud , Eye of the devil) , adventures (Flame over India , Kings of the sun , Taras Bulba , Tiger Bay) and Warlike ( Guns of Navarone, Von Braun , Chairman , The passage). His two biggest successes turned out to be ¨Guns of Navarone¨and ¨Cape Fear¨. Thereafter , the filmmaker's career subsided in a morass of slickly realized but middling films . He moved into the field of international spectaculars , at which point his filmmaking seemed to lose its individuality . J. Lee Thomson working from the 50s in England, finished his career making Chuck Norris (Firewalker) and Charles Bronson vehicles (Caboblanco , Evil that men do , Messenger of death , Death Wish 4 : Crackdown, Caboblanco, St Ives). St. Ives rating : Mediocre but passable 5.5/10 , but it will appeal to Charles Bronson fans . Marks this down as for hardened Charles buffs only .

Reading some of the reviews here, I can see that a lot of folks aren't happy with Charles Bronson's interpretation of Ross Thomas's hero, Raymond St. Ives. Having not read any of the books I can't comment there. I'm happy enough with Charles Bronson in the part having no novel to measure it against.

I'm also very happy with the very excellent cast of supporting players that Bronson and J. Lee Thompson put together for St. Ives. There what really makes this film work for me.

Picture if Dr. Reifenschneider or Casper Guttman had kept a diary of all the criminal enterprises they had been involved with. That's what master criminal John Houseman as Abner Procane has done. But somebody's stolen it and wants some big bucks to get it back.

Enter Charles Bronson as Ray St. Ives, former crime reporter now trying to work on a novel. He knows the Los Angeles underworld and portals of entry therein like no one else, so Houseman hires him as a go between.

Bronson's 'between' all right, between a whole lot of people with agendas at cross purposes. In this stellar cast you'll find Jacqueline Bisset as the Charley's Angel like security for Houseman, Maxmilian Schell as Houseman's psychiatrist, Harris Yulin and Harry Guardino as a pair of on the make detectives, Dana Elcar as their superior, and Elisha Cook as the hotel clerk where Bronson stays.

Bronson's got his work cut out for him in this one. Figure he's the good guy, he's got some real problems telling just who the villains are.

Funniest scene, Bronson in his favorite bar/lunch counter place feeding Val Bisoglio and pumping him for information as Dick O'Neil cuts the corned beef. This might have been what got Bisoglio to thinking about owning a more upscale place because his best known role was coming shortly, as Danny who owned the place Jack Klugman and the cast of Quincy loved to kick back in.

Obviously purists of Ross Thomas's work have problems with St. Ives, but fans of Charles Bronson most definitely won't.

I've been a big Bronson-fan for as long as I can remember, and I saw "St. Ives" on TV some years back and was always left with the impression that it was sorta dull, all though offering a nice change of pace for old Charlie. Now out on DVD I still had to order it though, as I pride myself on having *every* Bronson-film available in my collection. I am really happy to say that watching it again was a really wonderful surprise! I'll blame my stupid youth for not appreciating this movie as much back in my late teens because "St. Ives" isn't dull. Sure, it doesn't include all the normal action scenes one has come to expect from a Bronson picture, but it includes just about everything else lacking in his later action movies: great wit, humor, style and unexpected plot-twists and turns right up until the very end! To top it all off it is one of the best scored Bronson-films, with a wonderful soundtrack by Lalo Schifrin. Oh and just so you know; despite the low amount of action scenes, the body count DOES get alarmingly high before the end credits.

It also has a truly excellent cast supporting Bronson. To mention a few: Academy Award winning veteran John Houseman, one of the sexiest stars of the 1970's Jacqueline Bisset, Dana Elcar (Pete Thornton in "MacGyver"), Academy Award winner Maximilian Schell, the lovable Elisha Cook Jr, Michael Lerner, Dick O'Neill (Sharon Gless' memorable dad Charlie in "Cagney & Lacey"), Daniel J. Travanti (the star of "Hill St. Blues") and my favorite supports, the wonderful character actors Harry Guardino and Harris Yulin as police detectives. On top of this you get young versions of Robert Englund and Jeff Goldblum as hoods fighting it out with Charlie!

I also found myself laughing more than I normally do watching Bronson-movies, as "St. Ives" has several funny moments. My favorite one probably being the dinner/confrontation scene with Val Bisoglio.

If you are a *true* Bronson-fan you'll really enjoy old Charlie in this one!

An interesting visual side, with some well composed shots by J. Lee Thompson and expert cinematographer Lucien Ballard, is by far the best part of the film, and it is almost enough to atone for a rather lame screenplay. The story is at times difficult to follow, but it is not very original or out of the ordinary either, so there is not all that much reason to care. This is one of those films that you watch more so for a good amount of action and thrills. It just does not have the characters and plot that a brilliant film of its type would have. It is not helped out by poor music choices either, nor by wasting veteran film noir actor Elisha Cook Jr. in an insignificant supporting role. Still, it is okay viewing overall. It seems a little silly how Bronson runs into trouble everywhere, but that is the way that the plot of the film is made up, so be it. At least it is not annoying to view, and it is at times reasonably amusing.

Writer St. Ives is hired to retrieve journals stolen from a thief who compulsively writes down his capers and is now being blackmailed...everywhere he goes someone is a step ahead of him and there is a dead body! Lots of killing and an appearance by Jeff Goldbum...all for four million!

This film is based on books that I haven't read, but Charles Bronson received a lot of criticism for his portrayal of St. Ives...I didn't have anything to compare him too and I thought it was a fun cop caper.

John Houseman was fun as an eccentric and wealthy thief-Abner Procain and Jacqueline Bisset was great as his former cop side-kick who St. Ives described as "You're tough, smart and you have a lot of good looking bits and pieces."...best line in the film!

Bit of a watch and delete for me...but still a fun caper, with a clever follow through on who dunnit.