Dead Heat on a Merry-Go-Round

This crime movie was only "fair," not worth owning if you are a collector, but worth checking out if you are a James Coburn fan. The title is a lot better than the story.

This is another of those mid-60s films that was Hollywood-in-transition, meaning it was just a year or so away from abolishing any moral codes. Here, we see casual sex accepted as okay and the bank robbers portrayed as the good guys, even though they are anything but good.

The female lead, Camilla Sparv, was a strange-looking lady who never really made it as a star. One can see why. It's also interesting to hear the language of the period with the police being called "the fuzz," etc.

James Coburn is fun to watch, but the rest of the cast is unmemorable, except that it marked the film debut of Harrison Ford, who plays a messenger boy in one quick scene. Other than that, the film provides few noteworthy memories which is probably one reason why there are so few reviews of this here.

For quite some time, this movie has held a place on my list of quintessential 60s guilty pleasure; it's a mini-super-light heist flick variation on some of the same themes in John Boorman's masterpiece, POINT BLANK - with its consistent visual chronicling of a transient American culture made anonymous by its materialistic-quack preoccupations (and thus,easily vulnerable to chameleon criminality). James Coburn, who plays DEAD HEAT'S hero shares some of Lee Marvin's traits in POINT BLANK. Both men move, mysteriously, like the wind, "beat the system," "win out" as anti-heroes but, in the process,they negate themselves out of existence ( they are, literally, "gone with the wind" at their respective pictures' fade-outs). On this last go-round, having just recently watched it again (via TCM), I'm prepared to give it a less qualified, more hearty endorsement. Writer-director, Bernard Girard makes the best case for modern international airports to be THE stage for absurdist comedy of any film I can think of. It begins with a mock-dramatic monologue by Coburn that keys the unique tongue-in-cheek tone of the film brilliantly and is probably the best acting he ever did on film. Stu Philips' catchy theme music maintains the puckish spirit of the piece in a way that few American movie scores of the 60s ( or movie scores of any other period for that matter) have been able to do as successfully or as memorably.

FIRST: Let us FOCUS on the Titles's Content and Context....´

In retrospect, I'll bet that when I bought this on DVD a few years ago, it had been re-released because of Harrison Ford's uncredited screen debut as a Bellboy (Although he was 23 when DEAD HEAT was filmed, he does look like a 19 year old "boy"!)

Ahhhh, There's the Rub! The FORD debut is precisely the reason I decided to purchase it! Well, also because I had seen it twice during its theatrical release at the age of 18 and enjoyed it immensely. Recently, I began compiling a list...."Movies that stand the test of time!", and I can assure you, most whole-heartedly, DEAD HEAT won't be on it!!!

This film is extremely dated, both in thematic and in stylistic terms. Even the dialog is peppered with terms you probably haven't heard in ages, like "The FUZZ", for example! (For those of you under 50, "The Police") Although, as usual, James Coburn's screen persona is delightful to watch, there are quite a few occurrences depicted here that stretch suspension of disbelief to the breaking point. Perhaps not so much way back in 1966, but certainly now, half a century later! Coburn's character, Eli Kotch, seems to be 100% impervious to Murphy's Law. Everything goes exactly his way, every single time! In Spanish we say, "Mucha Pelicula!", ...."Just TOO much Movie"!

Despite some real heavyweight talent in the cast, like Aldo Ray, Robert Webber and Rose Marie, the mostly lackluster dialog makes for rather non-memorable performances all around. DEAD HEAT does have a number of interesting moments sprinkled throught its 100+ minute duration, but for a 2015 viewing, I would hesitate to recommend it other than to viewers pining for a little mid-60's Nostalgia!

Any comments, questions or observations, in English o en Español, are most welcome!

I saw this film at the cinema in the 1960's and years later, although I had never forgotten the title of the film, I could not remember anything else about it. I decided, therefore, to buy the DVD and pay a long time return visit to this film. In it James Coburn plays a con-man and is at times quite amusing, but I must say, however, that the movie is rather tame and slow and pretty much forgettable. Still it brought back memories of a time now gone, but a time I often wish would return. If you are wanting thrills and excitement, then this film is not for you. However, for those of you who enjoy watching 1960's films then this rather overlooked movie is worth a look.

"Dead Heat on a Merry-Go-Round" is probably mostly of interest to us nowadays due to Harrison Ford's bit part as a bellhop. Apparently, after the movie bombed, a producer told Ford: "Kid, you ain't got it." Of course, Ford went on to star in the "Star Wars" and "Indiana Jones" trilogies, so he clearly had lots of "it".

Anyway, the movie casts James Coburn as ex-con Eli Kotch, plotting a heist in LAX while the Russian prime minister is visiting. Coburn seems to be mirroring his Derek Flint character, right down to being surrounded by hot babes (specifically Camilla Sparv and Nina Wayne). The good ol' Cold War, when the US and USSR could play all sorts of tricks on each other, and there were plenty of beauties to go around.

Overall, "DHOAMGR" isn't a great movie, but it's worth seeing. You may notice that playing Mrs. Kirby is Rose Marie, better known as Sally on "The Dick Van Dyke Show".

Nina Wayne. Hubba hubba...