O Pêndulo

After watching this movie you tend to think that this is just the sort of movie that George Peppard would appear in when he was popular in the 1960s.

Latching on to the "tough cop" genre Peppard faces the familiar situation of finding himself at odds with his colleagues as well as having to deal with low-lifes. Any fans of 60s cop movies will line this one up alongside the likes of Madigan and The Detective. Not to mention Peppard's own New Face In Hell. There are even strands that would be picked up in later films e.g. The self-seeking politician (Bullitt) and the murderer who gets off on a technicality (Dirty Harry). And, coincidentally Peppard's character Captain Frank Matthews owns a Magnum.

Matthews, for all his success, has a rocky marriage. His wife Adele is sleeping with a business associate. Things get complicated when Adele and lover-boy are killed when in bed together. Frank becomes the obvious suspect when his alibi starts to get waterlogged. Not only that, the audience finds out he was lying about where he was! So, was it him after all? Fortunately, by resorting to the usual trick of escaping arrest, Frank has time to figure out who the real murderer is.

Of the supporting cast Madeline Sherwood is the standout. When it comes to gullible, hick women she is the go-to gal. In fact she had already performed variations on the theme in two episodes of The Fugitive, namely The Witch and Devil's Carnival. As the mother of rapist/murderer Paul Sanderson she is both helpless and selfish. She doesn't want him around but, feels obligated to assist her wayward boy. Robert Lyon is not entirely convincing as Sanderson, turning in a very lame impersonation of James Dean; all snarling and sulky. Matthews boss played by Charles McGraw delivers a by-the-numbers stereotyped performance as the exasperated senior officer who wants to be rid of a maverick subordinate. The movie will be enjoyable to older viewers with its obviously contemporary portrayal of the 60s. The fashions, the huge cars that wallow on their suspensions and the fact that everybody chain-smoked. Not forgetting, no profanity or gratuitous sex. Ah, the old days!