Tweekums
This film sees the return of Miami private investigator Tony Rome. As the story opens he is scuba diving at a site that a friend assures him is the final resting place of a number of Spanish galleons; he doesn't find and wrecks
just a naked blonde with her feet set in a concrete block! Soon afterwards he is hired by a large man named Waldo Gronsky to find a blonde named Sandra, who he assures him is not the one he found earlier. The last place Sandra was seen was the house of Kit Forrest, a wealthy and attractive young widow. She had been throwing a party but didn't recall if Sandra was actually there as she had been drinking. She doesn't really want to talk so calls her neighbour; retired gangster Al Mungar. His investigation takes him to a go-go club where the manager is murdered shortly afterwards leading to the police wanting to arrest Tony for murder! If he is to clear his name he will have to stay a step ahead of the police and solve the case he was paid for.Frank Sinatra returns for a second, and sadly final, time as Tony Rome. He does a fine job as this likable detective; cool but not too cool. The case is interesting and provides several potential suspects including Kit Forrest, Gronsky and Mungar as well as more victims. For the most part the movie still feels fresh with its bright Miami locations and cool '60s feel but in other ways it has dated; most notably portrayal and treatment of homosexual characters, including by the protagonist
something that almost certainly wouldn't be accepted in a modern film. The secondary cast are solid enough; Raquel Welch is fine as Kit Forrest, her introduction where she exits a pools wearing a bikini is certainly impressive! Unfortunately she isn't quite as good a female lead as Jill St.John was in the first 'Tony Rome' film; she was sexy but lacked a certain something. Overall I'd recommend this to anybody wanting some '60s fun; if you liked the first Tony Rome film you should enjoy this too.
Prof-Hieronymos-Grost
Detective Tony Rome (Frank Sinatra) returns to the screen after his self titled debut, this time it's a film that's played for erm
laughs. While on a diving trip, Rome finds the body of a blonde beauty at the bottom of the sea, her feet as you might expect, encased in cement. Rome immediately on the case after being hired by man mountain Waldo Gronsky. Rome finds himself immediately at risk as he has to investigate some mafia types, who turn the tables on him and he is himself found to be the main suspect, he must now go on the run and hope to solve the case alone. The portly Sinatra tries hard to sell us the lame jokes and make us believe he is a good detective, oh and not to mention being sexually attractive to the foxy Raquel Welch, but he fails miserably, in this ham fisted vanity project. The frankly laughable denouement that surrounds every female is quite astounding, every woman in the film is a dither head, who likes bending over is front of the camera, Director Douglas of course obliges in zooming in on the cracks of their asses each time as they flex their posterior muscles. There's even a ridiculously campy gay character that beggars belief, this was a film made by "real men" for "real men" to reaffirm their own flagging sexuality, it's a shameful shambles.
tforbes-2
Even if this film does not measure up to the original "Tony Rome" film of 1967, this is still a very enjoyable romp fest nonetheless. I confess I am a Frank Sinatra fan, so seeing him chew up the Florida scenery is fun.And I admit that Dan Blocker as Gronsky is a delight to watch. His role is a real change of pace from his usual signature role of Hoss in "Bonanza," which we get to see playing on a TV! He, Raquel Welch and Richard Conte offer fine support.I was surprised at the nudity in the film, and even more so when Richard Deacon was present, but the scenes work well. Maybe the film is not a world beater, nor up to the level of the original, but it is well worth a watch. And hey, seeing Florida from 1968 is a real treat in itself!
christopher-underwood
Not really, so bad it's good, but still pretty feeble, and yet still likable. Nobody comes out of this very well and I assume that Sinatra is the man to blame. The direction appears almost non- existent and the script simply awful but then half way through I got to wondering. The film just gives up the ghost now and again so there is plenty of time to do this. What I couldn't help but wonder was, if it were an Italian '68 movie with irrelevant soundtrack and nonsense story but subtitles so we couldn't tell how badly the lines were being spoken, it just might come across better. As it is the film is kept afloat by the amazing amount of sleaze and non PC ingredients. There is a surprisingly accurate pointer to this when we get to see a female nude so early on and with half of the film set in a strip joint and the other half at a semi dressed Raquel Welch's residence
well you get the picture. It doesn't take itself seriously and if you don't either you just might have some fun.
AD
