Cinque ore in contanti

I'm sure that technically, this movie can be watched without serious worries that it will induce a coma. However, acute lethargy, loss of focus, and boredom are indicated. I know this because I sat through the whole thing, and no long term deleterious effects seemed evident. Very little else was on that early in the morning, and TCM offered it up without commercials so I thought, OK, I'll watch it.

I've never been a huge Ernie Kovacs or Cyd Charisse fan, and after watching this movie, I can't say I'm gonna start ordering their DVD's anytime soon. I mean, it wasn't horrible. The production values were good and the acting was fine. I think the real problem was the script here. The TV Guide review said it was a comedy, but there just wasn't a whole lot of "the funny" happening. I've been around longer than this movie, so I think I'd have noticed.

It didn't give me any nightmares though, so I bumped it from three to four stars. I'm just that nice a guy.

This is what is commonly referred to as a Black Comedy(apologies to the 'woke' brigade!) but the screenplay by accomplished Hans Wilhelm is not really black enough. This is also the last film of director Mario Zampi and in common with the rest of his output, is okay as far as it goes.

It stars Ernie Kovaks, multi-talented and all round eccentric, whose larger than life personality ironically seems more suited to the small screen. He plays Aldo, a pall-bearer who lives off three rich widows one of whom is played by the enchanting Kay Hammond. He falls for and is fleeced by the Black Widow of slinky Cyd Charisse, a Baroness who has already proved fatal to five husbands. Will Aldo become number six.........?

The film becomes more entertaining when Aldo enters a mental institution run by a particularly unsympathetic psychiatrist, a wonderfully deadpan John Le Mesurier, who has been gifted the best line: "In my profession one doesn't liked to be duped." Another little gem is the perfectly cast Reginald Beckwith as a monk. The film really belongs to Gentleman George Sanders as a fellow patient who has kept his creditors at bay for years by feigning insanity. He saunters in two-thirds of the way through and proceeds to walk away with the remaining third.

A film that on paper had tremendous potential is alas a huge disappointment. It lacks the touch of a master and one wonders how Risi, Germi or de Sica would have handled this material. Despite being Italian, Signor Zampi had become far too Anglicised. Che peccato!

Ernie Kovacs stars with Cyd Charisse in this film Five Golden Hours. Those hours in fact are the time differential between Rome and New York where Cyd Charisse's late husband used to trade on the Stock Exchange and made a bundle with the instant communications before Rome's trading opened. In point of fact the guy was a con man with a Ponzi scheme.

The scheme fascinates Kovacs who has his own con games working as a professional mourner who fleeces widows out of nickels and dimes. But Cyd Charisse he falls for and who wouldn't. The problem is he's the one conned and has to do some scrambling to get away with it.

Not the best of Ernie Kovacs, for that one has to see him in his television show or in films like Operation Madball or North To Alaska. Still it has a few amusing moments and George Sanders who's never bad.

George Sanders steals the show in this caper, which stars Ernie Kovacs and Cyd Charisse. Kovacs, who only acted part time, is probably better known for his role in "Bell, Book, Candle", which is on TV all the time. Cyd Charisse, professional dancer, plays the mourning widow, and almost had a starring role with MM in Something's Got to Give. Five Golden Hours starts pretty slow. After a dragging first half hour, we finally find out about the widow's financial problems (26 minutes in...) and what "five golden hours" represents.. Then it's after that that Aldo Bondi (Kovacs) proposes a solution to the financial woes. There are plot twists, and the second half of this film could almost be a Mel Brooks movie, (moving much quicker than the first half) when filming on various locations such as a monastery and others. Clever ending... pay close attention!

I believe Kovacs said this was his favorite film. It's a quiet, measured comedy with good production values. It was the only real film in which Kovacs was the lead. I've always been interested in the big Hungarian, so any Kovacs movie has a built-in appeal for me. If you're not a fan of his, you might find Five Golden Hours ho-hum. Kovacs was never served that well on celluloid. His forte was exploring the possibilities of television, where he had freedom. With films, he was being packaged as a Hollywood product — not much room for Kovacs kreativity there. He made one more film after this one, Sail a Crooked Ship, which had some laughs.