L'or était au rendez-vous

Terrorists kidnap a nuclear scientist. Later a strange passenger and strange cargo are loaded aboard a tramp steamer which will pass within a few miles of a ship loaded with gold bullion. Coincidence?

THE GOLDEN RENDEZVOUS is one of those films which evokes "what ifs..." What if the producers had attached the prelude filmed when the show was broadcast on network TV? What if they had hired someone other than the thoroughly soused Richard Harris? What if Ann Turkel had been costumed in sexier outfits? And what if the producers hadn't hired a very overweight (and, at that time, very well known) Dorothy Malone for a throwaway role?

The prelude, added for TV does wonders for the films exposition. The film sans the prelude is much truer to the Alistair MacLean novel, but what is clever in novels is sometimes simply baffling on the screen. The ending is actually better than the novel; and, it would have been great if Harris hadn't resorted to some silly derring-do with dual submachine guns; and even better if he hadn't forgotten his lines in the denouement?

The best thing about this movie is the terrific (and I mean TERRIFIC) score by Jeff Wayne. The music adds a sense of urgency one never feels from what is up on the screen.

On a cargo ship converted into a cruise-liner, First Officer John Carter foils the plan of international hijackers to use his vessel as bait for a passing U. S. Treasury ship carrying gold bullion.

The Golden Rendezvous, an adaptation of Maclean's superb novel, stars Richard Harris as the heroic captain, performing some derring-do when "injured" and trying to stop the smugglers from setting off a nuclear bomb and running off with a gold bullion. Harris is ably supported by a star cast - David Jensen, Dorothy Malone, Gordon Jackson, Burgess Meredith, John Caradine, Ann Turkel and John Vernon, who adds a touch of menace to the proceeding as the gun-toting villain.

Of course, it doesn't match the book, which was supremely suspenseful with derring-do and a tinge of Agatha Christie, but it's still an enjoyable film, which, unlike Caravan to Vacarres, atleast follows the book's general plot outline. Emphasis here is on action, bloody squibs and the action is rousing - especially the scene where our hero goes over the side with a rope. What was needed was a more buildup of suspense in the first 30 minutes, and sharper dialogue.

I had fond memories watching this on LWT ( UK TV) in 1982 and definitely lapped it up.

John Carter (Richard Harris), First Officer on the Caribbean Star, finds himself in trouble when terrorist Luis Carreras (John Vernon) and his men overtake the ship. Carreras has smuggled a nuclear bomb on the ship and plans to detonate it after stealing some gold bullion from a US cargo ship they plan to draw to them. Carter takes matters into his own hands and teams with the ship's doctor (Gordon Jackson) and beautiful passenger Susan (Ann Turkel) to take on the terrorists and save all of the passengers.

Adapted from an Alistair MacLean novel, this action-suspense flick was unleashed with posters promising, "The action of THE GUNS OF NAVARONE! The suspense of ICE STATION ZEBRA! The drama of WHERE EAGLES DARE!" I don't think it came through on any of those. The script is muddled with the first 40 minutes trying for suspense but getting brain twists. Also, the blooming romantic relationship between Harris and Turkel will leave you going, "Huh?" as she slaps him and then he kisses her. Director Ashley Lazarus just can't seem to get things to work and, if the IMDb is correct, some extra work was done by Freddie Francis. The abrupt ending would suggest a troubled production. Too bad as this has one of those ensemble casts that only a 70s disaster epic could secure and they are all game. In addition to Harris, Turkel and Vernon, you get supporting roles by David Janssen, Burgess Meredith, John Carradine, Dorthy Malone and Robert Beatty. The film also has one of the most ill-fitting synthesizer scores I've ever heard.

This is one of Alistair MacLean's most nervously exciting thrillers, and the film is equally sweaty. You won't have any nails left to bite when it is over.

A Caribbean cruiser with the crème de la crème on board, all posh multi millionaires with one or another question mark, is leaving some port somewhere, there is a gang sitting around the roulette, there are cocktail parties, all are well dressed and may not appear unless they are proper enough, and of course there is a femme fatale among them, seemingly the mistress of David Janssen, one of the greatest question marks on board.

There is also a suspicious cancer patient closely guarded by a forbidding German nurse, and soon important members of the crew start to get killed, especially around the communication centre.

Fortunately Richard Harris is on board, and another one to help with the situation is Gordon Jackson as the doctor, whose help is going to be needed when the ship gets crowded with patients and bodies.

There is a suspicious coffin on board as well, the contents of which is anything but a dead body. There the intrigue starts, and Richard Harris will get his hands full in due order, as he always does.

It's a great film of suspense no matter how cheaply made it is, you don't have to put much effort to it when Alistair MacLean has written the story and already provided all the details needed to put together an awesome show of violence, war, gunfights, sinking ships, explosions, bloody murders and a terrifying plot. Great show!

Poor old Alistair MacLean. With a few exceptions, movie makers the world over have managed to turn his very well written stories into not-so well written movies. In this attempt, a tired looking Richard Harris plays Ships Officer Carter, trying to deal with odd passengers, strange coffins and even stranger outfits as worn by the lovely Ann Turkel. Toss in a couple of not so great cameos from David Janssen and Dorothy Malone, a not so scary John Vernon, assorted plot "twists" (I use the term in it's broadest possible sense), and you get a movie that has all the pieces but never actually works out where they go.

What does it have going for it? A good basic storyline, some magnificent music (a great score from Jeff Wayne), a couple of quite good stunts and Ann Turkel. However, against this you have several examples of very ordinary acting, a plot that doesn't so much unfold as explode, the slowest "5 minute countdown" ever to take place in Hollwywood and the travesty of having MacLean's wonderful last "plot twist" (as read in the book) ignored so that Harris can go running around armed with a submachine and a determined look.

*sigh* The Guns of Navarone, Force 10 from Navarone, Where Eagles Dare and Ice Station Zebra (despite it's flaws) were examples of how to make a MacLean come alive on the screen. Golden Rendezvous does not make the grade.

Rafe Nottage Sydney 16 May 2005