It’s wild to think director Ronald Neame directed both this and Gambit within the same year. A Man Could Get Killed is the same type of nimble genre exercise, though Gambit is a far more adept and craftier film. That isn’t to say that the James Garner vehicle isn’t worth your time, quite the opposite. Neame has crafted a spy comedy romp that takes its well-worn plot of mistaken identities and gives it the charm and dry wit of the director’s best work.
Garner’s charm is used to maximum exasperated comedic effect as American banker William Beddoes, who is almost blown up by a car bomb as the film opens. From that point, Garner and the audience are taken on a push-and-pull journey through Europe. Spies, crooks, thieves, con men, and an assortment of other unsavory characters are all vying for a cache of priceless diamonds. Such a whirlwind adventure that even Beddoes gets involved with the intrigue, with a huge dash of romance.
Stars Garner and Melina Mercouri are perfectly matched as Beddoes and Auroa, the thief who attempts to steal the diamonds and eventually his heart. The duo matches each other for charm and wit in a way that cannot be faked. The way the two play off one another is a huge part of the success of the film. The weakest link of the film is Sandra Dee and Tony Franciosa as the secondary couple. They don’t really work as well as Garner and Mercouri. But it speaks to Garner’s star power that the film slows when he isn’t onscreen.
A Man Could Get Killed’s secret weapon is its cross-wiring dialogue, which recalls the best of screwball comedy’s mile-a-minute delivery. The film, at its best, recalls the work of early era Blake Edwards with that lighter-than-air sort of quality. Empty fun calories where there are stakes, but there’s so much fun you don’t really notice.
The Transfer
This shot on location around Europe 1966 film looks gorgeous on Blu-ray. The rarely seen film looks beautiful in high definition, with the color reproduction being that specific type of Technicolor coating of filmmaking of the era and not the kind of beauty we are used to from a Universal Picture (which at the time was a bit of a sausage factory, churning out rather than artfully producing). The image is sharp without any sort of blemishes during the runtime, just a wonderful-looking widescreen image.
The Extras
They include the following;
NEW Audio Commentary by Film Historians Steve Mitchell and Troy Howarth
NEW Audio Commentary by Mystery Writer and Filmmaker Max Allan Collins with Film Historian and Host of Cereal at Midnight Podcast Heath Holland
Theatrical Trailer
The first all-new Audio Commentary track is by Film Historians Steve Mitchell and Troy Howarth, which opens with a question about the 1960s Universal Logo before diving into the film. Some of the details include where this film fits within various films, this lines up with; what appealed to the greatest generation in films, and specific escapes; a discussion of the shared director credit and how that happened; a discussion of screenwriters Richard L. Breen and T. E. B. Clarke and their development of the adaptation of the novel “Diamonds For Danger” by David E. Walker; a discussion of director Cliff’s own’s departure; a discussion of the career and life of James Garner and where he was when he was making this film; a great discussion about Garner’s obsession with driving and his stunt driving work on The Rockford Files; a discussion of the career of star Sandra Dee; the work of cinematographer Gábor Pogány; the various locations they used in the film; a discussion of the various actors that appear; and much more.
The second all-new Audio Commentary track by Mystery Writer and Filmmaker Max Allan Collins, with Film Historian and Host of Cereal at Midnight Podcast, Heath Holland, begins with introductions before discussing how Collins wrote the movie novelization of Maverick. Some of the details include how big a success Maverick was as a TV series and how big a star Garner became because of it; the tumultuous production and Garner’s dislike of the film; the performance and career of actress Melina Mercouri; a discussion of the Frank Sinatra song Strangers in the Night and how it is featured at least in part that is featured in the film; a discussion of James Garner’s production company Cherokee Productions and the other films that they produced under the banner including Marlowe; a larger discussion of Garner’s persona that he cultivated on Maverick and how it worked (and didn’t) in this film; the various films of the era that inspired (in part) this film, including Bond, spy spoofs, and North by Northwest; the various actors that appear in the film; and much more.
Rounding out the special features are trailers for A Man Could Get Killed (2:39); The Art of Love (2:47); The Pink Jungle(2:42); Support Your Local Sheriff (3:04); Support Your Local Gunfighter (2:46); Tank (2:52);
The Final Thought
Kino Lorber continues to bring us the best in forgotten Hollywood films like A Man Could Get Killed. Recommendations!!
James Garner gets mistaken for an international spy in the comedy adventure A Man Could Get Killed. The Ronald Neame-directed film is new to Blu-ray from Kino Lorber.
The Film
It’s wild to think director Ronald Neame directed both this and Gambit within the same year. A Man Could Get Killed is the same type of nimble genre exercise, though Gambit is a far more adept and craftier film. That isn’t to say that the James Garner vehicle isn’t worth your time, quite the opposite. Neame has crafted a spy comedy romp that takes its well-worn plot of mistaken identities and gives it the charm and dry wit of the director’s best work.
Garner’s charm is used to maximum exasperated comedic effect as American banker William Beddoes, who is almost blown up by a car bomb as the film opens. From that point, Garner and the audience are taken on a push-and-pull journey through Europe. Spies, crooks, thieves, con men, and an assortment of other unsavory characters are all vying for a cache of priceless diamonds. Such a whirlwind adventure that even Beddoes gets involved with the intrigue, with a huge dash of romance.
Stars Garner and Melina Mercouri are perfectly matched as Beddoes and Auroa, the thief who attempts to steal the diamonds and eventually his heart. The duo matches each other for charm and wit in a way that cannot be faked. The way the two play off one another is a huge part of the success of the film. The weakest link of the film is Sandra Dee and Tony Franciosa as the secondary couple. They don’t really work as well as Garner and Mercouri. But it speaks to Garner’s star power that the film slows when he isn’t onscreen.
A Man Could Get Killed’s secret weapon is its cross-wiring dialogue, which recalls the best of screwball comedy’s mile-a-minute delivery. The film, at its best, recalls the work of early era Blake Edwards with that lighter-than-air sort of quality. Empty fun calories where there are stakes, but there’s so much fun you don’t really notice.
The Transfer
This shot on location around Europe 1966 film looks gorgeous on Blu-ray. The rarely seen film looks beautiful in high definition, with the color reproduction being that specific type of Technicolor coating of filmmaking of the era and not the kind of beauty we are used to from a Universal Picture (which at the time was a bit of a sausage factory, churning out rather than artfully producing). The image is sharp without any sort of blemishes during the runtime, just a wonderful-looking widescreen image.
The Extras
They include the following;
The first all-new Audio Commentary track is by Film Historians Steve Mitchell and Troy Howarth, which opens with a question about the 1960s Universal Logo before diving into the film. Some of the details include where this film fits within various films, this lines up with; what appealed to the greatest generation in films, and specific escapes; a discussion of the shared director credit and how that happened; a discussion of screenwriters Richard L. Breen and T. E. B. Clarke and their development of the adaptation of the novel “Diamonds For Danger” by David E. Walker; a discussion of director Cliff’s own’s departure; a discussion of the career and life of James Garner and where he was when he was making this film; a great discussion about Garner’s obsession with driving and his stunt driving work on The Rockford Files; a discussion of the career of star Sandra Dee; the work of cinematographer Gábor Pogány; the various locations they used in the film; a discussion of the various actors that appear; and much more.
The second all-new Audio Commentary track by Mystery Writer and Filmmaker Max Allan Collins, with Film Historian and Host of Cereal at Midnight Podcast, Heath Holland, begins with introductions before discussing how Collins wrote the movie novelization of Maverick. Some of the details include how big a success Maverick was as a TV series and how big a star Garner became because of it; the tumultuous production and Garner’s dislike of the film; the performance and career of actress Melina Mercouri; a discussion of the Frank Sinatra song Strangers in the Night and how it is featured at least in part that is featured in the film; a discussion of James Garner’s production company Cherokee Productions and the other films that they produced under the banner including Marlowe; a larger discussion of Garner’s persona that he cultivated on Maverick and how it worked (and didn’t) in this film; the various films of the era that inspired (in part) this film, including Bond, spy spoofs, and North by Northwest; the various actors that appear in the film; and much more.
Rounding out the special features are trailers for A Man Could Get Killed (2:39); The Art of Love (2:47); The Pink Jungle (2:42); Support Your Local Sheriff (3:04); Support Your Local Gunfighter (2:46); Tank (2:52);
The Final Thought
Kino Lorber continues to bring us the best in forgotten Hollywood films like A Man Could Get Killed. Recommendations!!
Kino Lorber’s Blu-ray Edition of A Man Could Get Killed is out now.
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