Le carré d'as

Yet another jokey gangster film which proliferated the screens in the wake of BONNIE AND CLYDE (1967); the ragtime score, then, is clearly inspired by the recent success of THE STING (1973).

It's evidently cheaply made and pretty bad overall but, I guess, harmless enough; still, virtually the only thing of interest here is the film's comic-strip look, complete with captioned descriptions during transitions.

Jack Palance (another film I watched as a tribute to him - renting this one would certainly not have been a priority otherwise!) mercilessly chews the scenery as one of two warring gang bosses.

"This is a tongue-in-cheek crime melodrama that became a 'Late Late Show' fixture in the 1980s," according to the DVD sleeve, "Jack Palance plays Vic Morono, a high-ranking Prohibition-era mobster with a weakness for women who is waging an ongoing war with rival hoodlum Chico Hamilton (Warren Berlinger). Vic falls for gorgeous blonde Wendy (Carol Lynley). The film's title refers to the name of his speakeasy, and to his gang, which consists of himself, Wendy, and a brace comic-relief hoodlums."

"The Four Deuces" opens with cartoon credits, and attempts a stylish comic strip look. Expecting some wit upon seeing the name Don Martin in the credits will drive you stark raving nuts - this is not the cartoonist who worked for "Mad" magazine. Light bondage and female flesh scenes might have upped ratings for those 1980s "Late Late Show" airings. Perhaps most notable is the that Ms. Lynley and Mr. Berlinger worked much more memorably together in the stage and film versions of "Blue Denim".

*** The Four Deuces (1/76) William H. Bushnell ~ Jack Palance, Carol Lynley, Warren Berlinger, Adam Roarke

This is one of the worst movies I have ever seen. Palance totally overacts; and that is the best thing I have to say. The tone of the movie is all over the map and the dramatic parts are not dramatic and the forced comedic scenes are actually the best dramatic parts of the movie. It is so bad, you can't even make fun of it (believe me- we tried). Overall, it was truly painful. The only reason to watch this movie is to see martin kove at his best, unless you like watching people chew- Palance et al. seem to have some cud in their mouths the entire movie- maybe it was aspirin to overcome the pain of making the movie!

In this comic book style gangster flick Jack Palance gives a good but sometimes dreamy performance.He was definitely a great performer and by the end of the movie you do find his character admirable.The film suffers from the fact that the director instead of making a full scale dramatic gangster epic(The Godfather,Part-II etc.),well at least he could've tried instead whenever the plot thickens, an idiotic comedy scene or a parody of a violent scene ruins the whole feel.The supporting cast is o.k. and so is the screenplay.A special mention should be made for the art design which is pretty authentic.

The most beautiful shot comes near the climax when Palance's character get's out of his car and walks into his club.

Nearly O.K. but nothing special.

In the 1970s, I am pretty sure that regular movie producers didn't think seriously about casting Jack Palance in a movie with comic elements. But that didn't stop Menahem Golan and Yoram Globus doing so in this early effort by them. Actually, the movie is a mix between seriousness and comedy, and as you can probably imagine, the end results are a real mess. Seeing people get graphically killed along with other acts of violence does not mix well with the movie's stabs at goofy humor. But there are further problems with this exercise. The low budget was apparently almost all spent on renting antique cars and props, because the set design is often something you'd see in a high school play. The biggest problem with the movie, however, is how incredibly boring it is. It won't take long for you to start nodding off and having no interest in these uninteresting characters.