clanciai This is a heart-rending story that would have been almost unbearable if it were not for the exceptionally poignant performance of Edward G. Robinson as an old man getting caught in a web of urban corruption. Sam Jaffe's brief but equally upsetting performance is on the same level, and it's like a nightmare of helplessness of old age. At the same time, a character like this wouldn't fit anyone but Robinson - he made many such characters before, but they all mount up to this one, lost in a world that because of his old age refuses to take him seriously or even believe him, since he alone knows the truth but can't understand it or make it credible, since it is too evil for human understanding. Even his son (Martin Balsam) ultimately fails him, while the end comes as a surprise, since it should have turned another way. It's a great story, all the characters are excellent, and the events and circumstances of this asphalt jungle of a hostile city environment are quite typical of 1970 - that's how the world was in those days, with psychiatry as the infallible authority of human life. Although it is very late, this is still a noir and one of the very darkest as such. When you try to settle after the film you feel very old and lost, like the too convincing old honest Robinson.

utgard14 Man, TV movies in the '70s were so much better than they are today. Hell, many of them are even better than theatrical films today. This is an engrossing movie starring the great Edward G. Robinson as an elderly man who sees his friend murdered but can't get anyone to believe him. It's a well-written and fairly gritty picture with a fine cast of familiar faces backing up Robinson, who's just dynamite. The ending is a bit of a downer but that was the '70s for you. Other reviewers seem to be picking on "why didn't anyone believe him" as a major flaw with the film. I just can't disagree more. I mean, were we watching the same movie? First, there's the underlying theme of how the elderly are treated at the heart of all this. The well-meaning but full-of-it shrink even compares them to adolescents. Second, there's the fact that there wasn't one shred of evidence to back him up. They spent the majority of the film showing him trying to convince people only to have it repeated over and over that there simply was no proof. So it was his word versus the evidence, which is all that would matter in reality to anyone but those who loved him. The son was the most sympathetic to his plight and even that wasn't much. The daughter-in-law, the real villain of the piece in my view, seemed like she couldn't muster an ounce of sympathy for the sweet old man. I half-expected her to be in on the cover-up! There simply was nothing to back up what he was saying. And the shrink going out investigating, which at least one reviewer took issue with, was more about the shrink trying to prove to the old man that he was wrong than it was about trying to seriously investigate the case.

Stormy_Autumn "The Old Man who Cried Wolf" was a TV movie made in 1970. Starring Edward G. Robinson and Martin Balsam, as father and son, it's a story of fear, sorrow and courage.Edward G. had proved himself as an actor long before this was made. He played mobsters, editors, doctors, cops, G-men, farmers, ranchers, Nazi-hunters and a Monk. Looking at his film resume I think he was a very busy actor. Having seen most of his movies I think he was a very talented actor.Martin Balsam has been a stand-up character actor for many years. "12 Angry Men" (1957) was a favorite of mine. "Raid on Entebbe" (1977) was also good.In this movie, Emile Pulska (Edward G.) was an elderly gentleman who went to visit his old friend, Abe Stillman (Sam Jaffe). During their visit the men are attacked by a "thug" and Emile is knocked out. When Emile awakens, in the hospital, he learns that his friend is dead. He tells his story to Stanley, his son, and the police. He was concerned about the beating, and Abe's death, but he wasn't believed. Abe died of "natural causes". Just ask the only surviving witness.Once it was learned by the "thug" that Emile survived the attack the old gentleman's life was not worth a "plug nickel". Since he was not believed, by his family or the authorities, Emile had no choice but to help himself. He wasn't safe because he was being stalked. By whom? The creep? Someone who might want to protect the creep? Hummm, good question don't you think? A very worthwhile "ABC Movie of the Week".

aromatic-2 The only thing worse than to be a child and be disbelieved that you have witnessed a crime which has put your life in danger is to be an old man in the same situation. A tour de force performance by Robinson might just be the highlight of his later career. Balsam is excellent as the son. Asner does a good turn as a bureaucrat, and Percy Rodrigues is totally chilling in his portrayal. A great paranoia flick.