Monsieur St. Ives

I've been a big Bronson-fan for as long as I can remember, and I saw "St. Ives" on TV some years back and was always left with the impression that it was sorta dull, all though offering a nice change of pace for old Charlie. Now out on DVD I still had to order it though, as I pride myself on having *every* Bronson-film available in my collection. I am really happy to say that watching it again was a really wonderful surprise! I'll blame my stupid youth for not appreciating this movie as much back in my late teens because "St. Ives" isn't dull. Sure, it doesn't include all the normal action scenes one has come to expect from a Bronson picture, but it includes just about everything else lacking in his later action movies: great wit, humor, style and unexpected plot-twists and turns right up until the very end! To top it all off it is one of the best scored Bronson-films, with a wonderful soundtrack by Lalo Schifrin. Oh and just so you know; despite the low amount of action scenes, the body count DOES get alarmingly high before the end credits.

It also has a truly excellent cast supporting Bronson. To mention a few: Academy Award winning veteran John Houseman, one of the sexiest stars of the 1970's Jacqueline Bisset, Dana Elcar (Pete Thornton in "MacGyver"), Academy Award winner Maximilian Schell, the lovable Elisha Cook Jr, Michael Lerner, Dick O'Neill (Sharon Gless' memorable dad Charlie in "Cagney & Lacey"), Daniel J. Travanti (the star of "Hill St. Blues") and my favorite supports, the wonderful character actors Harry Guardino and Harris Yulin as police detectives. On top of this you get young versions of Robert Englund and Jeff Goldblum as hoods fighting it out with Charlie!

I also found myself laughing more than I normally do watching Bronson-movies, as "St. Ives" has several funny moments. My favorite one probably being the dinner/confrontation scene with Val Bisoglio.

If you are a *true* Bronson-fan you'll really enjoy old Charlie in this one!

Cool Raymond St. Ives (Charles Bronson), an ex-police writer and unpublished author, is hired by Arthur Procane (John Housman) to recapture some journals stolen from his safe. Procane, of dubious legality, likes to spend free time watching silent movies like "The Big Parade." He has a lovely "assistant," Janet Whistler (Jaqueline Bisset).

In return for the stolen ledgers, St. Ives' assignment is to give $100,000 ransom from Procane to a crook in a laundromat at night. When St. Ives arrives, he finds the crook dead, spinning inside a clothes dryer. St. Ives continues his quest around the streets of Los Angeles. Along the way he is assaulted and the bodies pile up. There certainly are not too many honest people around.

Although parts of the movie appear muddled, the denouement ties up loose ends. Positive elements of the film include a respectable cast, suitable LA locales, and several scenes of interest. The film is not too violent, and is interesting. The movie is based upon Ross Thomas' 1972 book, "The Procane Chronicles."

Charles Bronson plays the title character, an adventurer of sorts and crime writer. Oddly, he's hired by a rich thief (John Houseman) to retrieve some stolen documents...and so St. Ives plays private dick.

As St. Ives proceeds through the case, he keeps arriving when people are dying...but he is innocent. It just seems that a LOT of dishonest people keep killing each other to get the documents. What are they and what really is going on? Well, see the film...or not.

This is an odd Charles Bronson flick. While he is involved in a few action sequences, much of the film seems to happen all around him instead of with him. In addition, the plot is hard to believe and a bit convoluted...making this one of Bronson's lesser efforts. Decent and watchable but not much more.

By the way, if you do watch, pay attention to Hood #1 and 3 who try to kill St. Ives early in the film. They are Robert Englund and Jeff Goldblum before they became famous actors.

(Some Spoilers) Priviat eye-like movie with retired newspaper columnist and now unpublished book author Raymond St. Ives, Charles Bronson, getting hired to be the go between in a switch of $100,000.00 for a number of personal ledgers of eccentric multi-millionaire and criminal master-mind Abner Procane, John Houseman. At first the job that the down and out St. Ives has seems to be a lead pipe cinch. The $10,000.00 that he'll get for it will come in handy for the compulsive gambling habit that he has and he thinks nothing of it.

Going to an all night laundromat in L.A to pick up the ledgers and hand over the cash for them St. Ives finds the person that he's supposed to do the switch with stone cold dead,Jack Boykins ,Jerrid Brutsche, is found spinning in a washer-dryer with his neck broker. What was to be a simple delivery and exchange for St. Ives turns out to be a string of murders. All that leads to a $4,000,000.00 pay-off, for a number of pages from Procane's ledgers that has information of his dealing with the president of International Electric George McDuff, Norman Palmer. McDuff is involved in setting up an under the table deal with a member of the Saudie royal family that would net him at least a one hundred million dollar contract.

Classy and well acted "St.Ives" has the beautiful Jackie Bisset, Janet Whistler, as the femme fatal in this film-noir drama set in 1976 L.A. John Houseman seems to be really enjoying the role that he has as criminal master mind Abner Procane who prides himself as never committing any act of violence in his long and successful crime career. The non violent Procane only in uses his smarts and soring intellect to get where he's gotten and not any rough stuff. As if he were playing a number of games of championship chess all which was so accurately recorded by him in the stolen ledgers.

Jackie Bissett is as gorgeous as ever as Porcane's aid, or partner in crime, Janet Whistler who turns out to be playing both sides of the law to get just what she wants. Maximillian Schell pops up in the movie every now and then as Porcane's personal psychiatrist, Dr. John Constable, who has more on his mind that the fantasies and fears of his patient.

The movie has a movie within a movie scene when we see the switch between the valuable information in Procane's ledger between go-between's of the Saudie Sheik and McDuff that leads to a bloody shoot-out outside the drive-in movie where the switch was made. Charles Bronson's St. Ives as usual overcomes the odds to get to the bottom of the case that he's on that for one of those involved ends up at the bottom of Abner Procane's giant swimming pool.

Bronson is pushed around and beaten up a number of times in the film but like in all of his movies he comes out on top in the end, especially with Miss. Bisset. The movie at the drive-in seemed to have a film that had an hour and a half long cattle stampede. This made me wonder if the film-makers of "St.Ives" got that idea from the great bad-movie director Ed Wood and copied it off from the legendary buffalo stampede of the Ed Wood directed film "Glen or Glenda".

Ex-crime journalist Raymond St Ives is struggling for doe, due to his gambling addiction and his slow progress of his unfinished novel. His offered a job as a "go-between" for the strange, old wealthy Abner Procane. He'll be payed 10,000 dollars for the job, to hand over cash for the exchange of Procane's stolen ledgers. However since he takes the job, nothing seems quite right and this leaves St Ives trying to put together what happened at the bungle exchange.

Director J. Lee Thompson along with actor Charles Bronson ( the first exercise to kick start their long-listed collaborations together) churn out a acceptable time-filler in the shape of the luxuriously smooth and constantly busy comic-crime caper "St Ives". Underlining the atmospherically exotic style is Thompson's sophisticatedly tidy direction, along with Lucien Ballard's handsomely crisp cinematography and Lalo Schifrin's high-strung score of sizzling jazz arrangement. The screenplay by Barry Beckerman is sleek, but overly knotty and perplexing in its deliberate developments of a devious layout. Still it stays conventional to the scheming and shady connections lurking around nearly every corner, and this generally engages. Sometimes not deliberately so, like often mentioned 'drive-in' sequence. The offbeat script can loose shape (even though it manages some quite cheeky dialogues), and begin to slumber off in the pulpy latter end of the film. The action is quite little, but pacey with some well performed and animatedly stylised stunts. The production managed to get a hold off a sensational cast. Charles Bronson in the lead as St Ives eases into the performance nicely. Jacqueline Bisset adds a sumptuously classy touch. John Houseman is very fun, and Dana Elcar gets some memorable scenes. Maximilian Schell hones in one hammy entrée turn, and Harry Guardino and Harris Yulin likewise are amusing. Also look out for some diverting performances from up-and-coming Robert Englund and Jeff Goldblum as two petty crooks. Michael Lerner and Elisha Cook Jr show up in minor roles too.

An elegantly charming enterprise with an excellent Bronson performance and great support.