Nieten unter sich

This movie has all the signs of a film that sat on the shelf for a while. When The Onion Field came out, this made Wambaugh (and James Woods) hot again, and they decided to release it -- that's my guess. Look at Woods, in the pre-stardom, almost extra role of the Fiddler.

The reason is simple. Robert Foxworth stinks it out. He delivers such a soft center in the role, the proceedings are even difficult to understand.

The other problem is that the dialogue is long long, pointless and drawn out. The action crawls along a foot a minute while the characters make small talk.

Paula Prentiss is fine, as is Harry Dean Stanton. But sometimes movies don't always jell, and this one sure doesn't either.

I have this movie on VHS and haven't watched it in quite awhile, but I wanted to leave a quick comment. I found this movie to be quite funny and to be appreciated for the great performances by Robert Foxworth, Paula Prentiss and Harry Dean Stanton. It's a quirky movie to be sure but full of small moments of laughter and sadness. It has just the right pace although some might find it a little slow at moments. If you enjoy a movie that relies on good acting and not special effects, this could be just the movie for scrunching up on the sofa with a bowl of popcorn and relaxing. Also the surprise appearance by a young James Woods supplies just the right amount of comic relief....Enjoy!

This is an offbeat sad, melancholy comedy for which the viewer has to be in the right disposition to enjoy it. Somehow a last stance against total despair. But if the disposition of the viewer IS right, The Black Marble can bring many joyous and thoughtful moments.

The main theme is, as often in a script by Joseph Wambaugh, that being a cop in L. A. is just unbearable in the long run. Soft hearted romantic Sgt. A.M. Valnikov, member of the Russian orthodox church, certainly has chosen the wrong job and shows first signs of vodka induced paranoia. He is teamed up with outwardly tough Sgt. Natalie Zimmerman who says „this isn't a goddamn Chekhov play" - but does she mean it? The case the two officers are involved in is the kidnapping of a Schnauzer by a punk who happens to be a dog breeder and trainer. Valnikov flies to the rescue of the distraught female owner without being able to bring the case to a happy conclusion. The only thing he is capable of is offering solace, which he does in a way that makes his colleague, frankly, jealous. But the movie trundles to a generally consoling if not very convincing ending with everybody more or less happy.

The team around director Harold Becker made the best out of a tight budget. For me this is one of the most memorable L. A. movies with really beautiful locations (the great musical score by Jarre helps wonderfully). There are many hilarious scenes, especially all the dog world related ones, the violent final (and totally accidental) clash between lawman and perpetrator and an enthusiastic Mexican doctor who has to „clean up" lower body parts of the punk after he got his pecker between canine fangs („it's still there, but you may not want to use it for a few weeks"). Not everything is perfect, sometimes I would really have liked romantic scenes to linger on some more, the last scene falls entirely flat (did the budget run out?), but on the whole The Black Marble is a fine piece of movie making.

The ensemble cast is just great. The most intriguing character for me is police officer Clarence Cromwell, played by John Hancock. What else can he be but an angel? He has no other function but to be there when his colleagues argue or are downbeat, not least his boss who doesn't decide anything without consulting him. It all gives that character a strangely supernatural aura.

It's hard to figure out what went wrong with this adaptation of Joseph Wambaugh's fine romantic comedy/cop drama. Wambaugh himself wrote the script from his novel. Harold Becker, who previously directed another Wambaugh book, "The Onion Field," is back at the helm. The cast, including leads Robert Foxworth and Paula Prentiss (not to mention the outstanding Harry Dean Stanton)are all very good. But for some reason, the movie seems muted and unexciting, missing much of the book's humor and attention to detail. Not a terrible film, but definitely a case where the book was better.

I saw the trailer for this movie in 1980 & it looked interesting. I had never seen it though until recently when I bought a copy for $2.99. I like Paula Prentiss, so I thought I'd like this movie. I didn't. I was very bored. Nothing interesting or exciting takes place. The romantic aspect of the story is tedious & mundane. I didn't find it amusing either. Paula looked great & the endearing, goofy qualities she conveyed in other films is toned down here. I was happy when this movie ended & I doubt I'd ever sit through it again.