The Capone Investment

Like some other reviewers on this page, I saw the film version of THE CAPONE INVESTMENT rather than the TV miniseries. I imagine some crucial material was cut out in order to condense this into a two-hour slot, but given that even the film version is sometimes slow in places, I'm not too worried.

This is a '70s production about the hunt for a missing wad of cash with links to old-time gangster Al Capone. Various interested parties are interested in the money, and a series of brutal murders reveals that some of them are willing to do just about anything to get their hands on it. The story is presided over by Glyn Owen and Peter Sallis as a couple of officials chasing after the mysterious villains of the piece, with John Thaw in a star-making turn as the belligerent suspect determined to find the murderer himself.

This is a low budget affair that nonetheless provides adequate viewing material for those who don't mind their productions dated and with some awful back-screen effects in places. It's quite a talky piece but it has some fitfully suspenseful moments and the end in particular is quite well staged. The actors all do solid work and are easy to commend too.

As mentioned this old Southern TV pot-boiler was screened by the now defunct Film24 a few years ago, the property is now occasionally on Movies4Men as a cut down film clocking in at just about two hours including a handful of ad breaks.

Having not seen the series version I can't comment on what's been removed or whether it means the current version is stronger or weaker for that editing but as viewed The Capone Investment proved a quite enjoyable minor work and one that gains some kudos for me for the mere fact Ian Kennedy Martin came up with the idea in the first instance - wondering what happened to the American gangsters millions and then managing to come up with a story that meant it could be filmed by a regional British TV company on its own patch takes more imagination than I have! In the acting stakes its definitely John Thaws show, you can see the proto John Regan in his performance - no nonsense, a threat of violence, he will get his man! The rest are largely perfunctory though Peter Sallis does have "something of the night" about him as the C15 agent attached to the police investigation.

In terms of its production it is very cheap looking, as was the way in the 60s and 70s in house fiction series were often recorded on film when on location and on video for the studio work (sometimes video was used inside and out), when compared to more expensive series of the same era that were shot entirely on film - Space 1999, the Sweeney, the New Avengers etc it looks very crude at times but I suppose that's part of the retro charm!

This is a strange, antediluvian pleasantry (old-fashioned even in 1974), resembling nothing so much as one of those Francis Durbridge serials where everyone is a suspect, everyone has a secret and everyone lies like mad.

A businessman is shot, and suspicion falls on his 'friends' (all parasitical hangers-on), 'secretary' (mistress) and his estranged son (John Thaw, just prior to his Sweeney superstardom). A gritty detective (Glyn Owen) and an enigmatic MI5 man (Peter Sallis) investigate, and soon link the crime to the murders of various shady Chicago characters in the UK. The suspects are slain at regular intervals, until the final unmasking of the villain and a somewhat perfunctory climax.

Absolutely nothing wrong with this, and it is great fun for those who like Paul Temple, or who prefer the slower pace of 70s television, and a whodunnit spread over six episodes. It is certainly not cutting edge drama, and is a surprising product of the pen of Ian Kennedy Martin, who usually produced somewhat more sophisticated material than this.

The one really hard thing for the modern viewer to cope with is the dreadful CSO, especially as for some reason a large part of this drama seems to involve deep discussions between car drivers and their passengers, all outlined by a terrible blue line, and with the background remaining stubbornly at the same perspective as the camera zooms in and out on the characters. It couldn't have looked good even then.

My review is based on the six part series.

Overall I enjoyed it, it is very much an attempt to copy the style of Francis Durbridge, we even get a few faces that had appeared in Durbridge dramas, although penned in the style it doesn't quite have the subtleties and intrigue that Francis contrived. Still it's enjoyable, and intriguing, it's a little slow to start, but the last episodes are very good.

The acting is a little up and down, Peter Sallis is undoubtedly the standout performer.

Credit to the writer for having an Al Capone themed story, it was well woven in. It has decent production values, and the music is very much of its time.

If you enjoy the likes of Melissa, Game of Murder and Paul Temple, I think you'll enjoy this. 7/10

I saw this as a film which was heavily cut from the TV series and it must have suffered from that as it was not all that good. I had an idea who the baddy was fairly early on but it would probably have taken a lot longer of course watching the much longer TV series.

A fabulous "medallion man" character with an unbuttoned flowery shirt, hairy chest, and a medallion, it's worth watching just to see this dinosaur, thankfully long extinct.

A snapshot of the glorious 70s with very bad wallpaper and soft furnishings.

An interesting plot but I would like to see the full TV series to compare it to the poor film cut from it.