Kaleidoscope

"Kaleidoscope" drifts through like a pleasant breeze. Allow yourself five minutes with this light comedy, and you're hooked. Set in 1960's Swinging London and Europe, the film was directed by an American, Jack Smight, in an abstract style that deliberately calls attention to itself. The dialogue is amusing repartee; and the performers seem so offbeat they exist as near comic-book characters. If a viewer feels distanced, then the film's creators have succeeded. It's all pretty much at the same level as that quintessential Sixties caper, "Modesty Blaise" (1966), only a bit less refined and a tad more square.

Warren Beatty stars as a card-cheating playboy with romantic pretensions. Before "Kaleidoscope," Beatty had acted in only one other film comedy ("Promise Her Anything," with Leslie Caron). Here, he comes on a little heavy-handed at first, but he soon settles in with the other performers, including Eric Porter, a powerful presence in the role of a sociopathic Mr. Big with a dreadful Napoleon-complex.

The movie's high notes arrive on cue. The climax is a high-stakes, winner-take-all poker game, and it's a tight, suspenseful scene. Its resolution will leave you breathless, admiring the good, low-keyed humor of the whole affair. The film's denouement, a kidnap-and-rescue sequence, is almost as clever. This film is not High Art -- not by any stretch of our good will or imagination. But there's nothing wrong with taking pleasure from well-made fluff, especially if we realize the genre's built-in limitations. "Kaleidoscope" is great fun because, like its gambler/hero, it doesn't always play by the rules.

With Susannah York as Beatty's chic companion, a Carnaby Street shopowner, and Clive Revill as her Scotland Yard inspector/father.

This film was fun, though it's also easy to skip. In some ways, it's quite enjoyable and in others it's a little slight--especially when it comes to the romance. When the film begins, you see that Barney Lincoln (Warren Beatty) is an international playboy who loves to gamble...and win. However, you soon see how he's so good--as he breaks into the company (Mission: Impossible style) that manufactures cards for the casinos. Why? So he can mark the plates and thus be able to read all the cards*. Along the way, he gets hooked up with a screwy girl, Angel (Susannah York). This is problematic, as she then tells her father all about Barney and his incredible card playing...and he works for Scotland Yard. The film, however, doesn't go where you think as Daddy is not interested in arresting Barney but forcing him to do a job for him. What's the job and how will it all work out....well, see the film.

Watching Beatty breaking in and then playing a high-stakes game of poker was very enjoyable. His romance with York, however, never seemed very convincing nor romantic. I think if they'd have improved this angle, they would have made the film more engaging and more of a must-see affair.

*It's hard to imagine no one spotting the marks on the cards-- especially because these are multi-million dollar casinos. This just didn't make much sense.

Though not credited (and probably unauthorized), this film is clearly based on the James Bond novel "Casino Royale" by Ian Fleming. In fact, it's more like the novel than the 1967 film "Casino Royale". The initial set-up of the story is very different - it has nothing to do with spies, and Beatty's character is not based on Bond; but his attempt to out-gamble a villain, and the subsequent events, will be very familiar to anyone who has read the book. Bond fans who have wished for a faithful adaptation of "Casino Royale" should check out this film.

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ADDENDA: I wrote the above comments in February of 2001. It's now November 2006, and a new "official" version of "Casino Royale" is in theaters. It's one of the best Bond films ever, and very faithful to Fleming's original book. But I still heartily recommend "Kaleidoscope" to Bond fans (and others).

Ok, so it's not going to win any awards for originality, but Beatty looks the part, Susannah looks beautiful and it all bumps along at a pleasant pace. I'm lucky enough to own a Technicolor print of this film and boy - the colours alone are enough to bring a smile to your face. A real slice of swinging '60s nostalgia.

Playboy Barney Lincoln (Warren Beatty) breaks into playing cards company Kaleidoscope and replaces some decks with marked cards. The cards are delivered to casinos and he uses them to win big. He has a fling with Angel McGinnis (Susannah York) and she informs her Scotland Yard father who needs the known gambler to smoke out notorious criminal Harry Dominion.

Warren Beatty is Warren Beatty. He is a movie star. This is a British crime thriller but it has few thrills. The plot meanders around. If the premise of the movie is recruiting a card cheat to take down a criminal, that's what this movie should start with. Instead, it spends so much time doing the marked cards and the rest. This should start with Beatty in prison after getting caught cheating on cards. The recruitment comes immediately and the plot can begin right away. The first time Barney meets up with Harry should not take over an hour. If it's about the marked cards, it should cut out the Dominion part. Even the knowing humor achieves very little. The general sense is that there is nothing here to see except one poker hand and one movie star.