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Fans of Midsomer Murders may appreciate seeing John Nettles as a young, fit (he's often shirtless), insubordinate, detective. Many other Midsomer cast members show up over the series run, including two of Midsomer's MEs. The striking thing about the series, though, is the writing, which avoids the formula scripting in Midsomer and other Brit crime series. The crimes are usually not murder, but swindles or thefts; the bad guys may get caught in the last minute or so of the episode without further reflection on them or their fate; sometimes the bad guys get away. The first episodes are a little clumsy, but get much better... until the last season or two when the show loses focus. Still, very much worth a watch and an interesting path for Brit crime drama.

Nowadays, there is a tendency to bowdlerize fairy tales, but this movie preserves all the sex, violence, weirdness, and horror of the medium. You will recognize the story elements as they are formed into something new. The King sets a task for prospective suitors for his daughter; a Queen wishes for a child but must first accomplish a weird quest; an old woman wishes to be made young. These three tales overlap and interconnect. Each tale has a flawed King and a flawed female lead character -- Queen, Princess, and an older lower-class woman. Each character makes a fateful decision to pursue certain desires. The photography and design combine for wonderful eye candy. The only reason this is not a "10" rating is the length -- the movie could lose ten minutes or so and be improved.

The late sixties/early seventies was a great time for westerns -- McCabe and Mrs. Miller came out the same year as Wild Rovers, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid two years before, and, of course, William Holden was just coming off of The Wild Bunch when he was cast here. Alas, this is not a great western. The first problem is that Blake Edwards seems intent on making a grand spectacle, along the lines of Duel In The Sun or The Big Country, rather than the more introspective westerns that reinvigorated the genre. Note, for instance, that the movie has an overture and an intermission, Hollywood spectacle staples. The photography is spectacular -- sometimes -- but poorly handled. For instance, in the movie's opening shots we see a pair of cowboys beautifully silhouetted against a big sky as they come riding, riding... Riding somewhere for a long time. This underscores the poor editing in this film: make your point and move on, don't just pile shot on shot of the same thing -- but perhaps I'm being too harsh here, as the "restored" version may not be true to Edwards' vision. But it is precisely that vision that is the movie's main flaw: there are numerous plot lines (some of which are never resolved) and the focus on the main characters is lost. Rambling and self-indulgent, this could have been a good western; instead, it gets lost in its own pretentiousness. What should have been a tale about two cowboys and their scheme to rob a bank becomes a steaming mess of plot lines. I find it interesting to compare this film to Edwards' comedy work with Peter Sellers or his ventures into the private detective genre, which are far better written, edited, and directed.