A comedy without laughs
that’s also a heist movie without suspense, Win,
Place or Steal contains virtually nothing of merit, except perhaps for a
soundtrack filled with jovial country tunes performed by actor/singe Tim McIntire,
who does not appear on camera. Pity those who do. The charmless trio of Alex
Karras, Dean Stockwell, and Russ Tamblyn play losers who steal a betting
machine from a racetrack as part of a scheme to manufacture winning tickets after
races have already been run. Unfortunately, all three leading characters are repellant.
Karras plays a lumbering dolt, Stockwell incarnates a lazy philanderer, and
Tamblyn portrays an angry drunk. (Actors Scatman Crothers and Harry Dean
Stanton show up in tiny roles, briefly elevating the piss-poor material.) Stockwell
and Tamblyn employ think Noo Yawk accents, so when they share scenes—and they
share lots of scenes—their self-centered whining is highly abrasive. It doesn’t help that the
script, cowritten by the film’s director, Richard Bailey, is crude and witless.
At one point, either Stockwell or Tamblyn makes the following remark about
Karras’ character: “That Frank is so horny he’d screw the crack of dawn!”
Elsewhere in this painful slog of a movie, onetime M*A*S*H actor McLean Stevenson shows up for a cameo as a queeny
insurance-company executive. To cut the filmmakers some slack, it’s possible
that the currently available versions of Win,
Place or Steal—likely derived from an ’80s VHS release—don’t accurately reproduce the way the picture looked during its original
release. Therefore, emphasizing the fact that it’s nearly impossible
to parse the visuals during the very long nocturnal heist sequence might be
unfair. Nonetheless, the audio in this sequence tells the same damning tale as
all of the cinematic information tells elsewhere in Win, Place or Steal. The jokes just aren’t there. On the plus side,
fans of the leading actors will undoubtedly find the experience of watching Win, Place or Steal more tolerable than
others, and McIntire’s numerous songs have a certain rustic appeal.
Win, Place or Steal: LAME
8 comments:
I realize your blog is focused on the films themselves rather than the marketing, but I'm almost always as fascinated by the posters, reacquainting myself with the trends and techniques of film promotion of the 70's. I just couldn't let this one pass without comment, since I can't remember ever seeing a film poster bragging about who the stars are friends with! Now *that's* desperation!
Noticed that, too. Truly amazing. (And not in a good way.) With any luck, I'll find a movie whose poster mentions that the stars merely live in the same neighborhoods as more famous people...
Oh boy. That poster hurts.
Entertaining write-up on one obscure flick, Peter.
I remember seeing this on TV back in the early 1980s. What I remember best is a role played by Putter Smith, who played Mr. Kidd in DIAMONDS ARE FOREVER. I had never seen him in anything else and here he was, looking exactly as he did in the Bond epic.
I Worked on this film back in the early 80's! Although no one ever mentions it, this movie is based on a true story. People went to jail in real life over the heist that is portrayed in the film. I knew the real Frank (Karras's character) and Richard Bailey? The film was poorly done and is so dark on video because it was created from a very dark theatrical print because original elements were lost.
I also knew the real "Frank." His sister introduced me to him. He was a character for sure. He felt that the movie was very poorly done and thought a remake of the movie would be appropriate. He asked me to become involved in a remake but I turned him down. It just needed a major rewrite but I didn't feel compelled to get that involved.
Mike Bement
Bill was, is, my dad and Raymond was my uncle. They made a lot of money with that machine and the movie isn't meant to be accurate.
Hello Billy
Call me
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