Lady in Cement

This too stars Frank Sinatra as a Miami detective trying to solve a twisting, turning murder case that begins when he discovers a nude corpse of a woman with cement shoes while scuba diving one day, and ends up encompassing several more murders, including one that is falsely pinned on him.

Sinatra seems slightly distracted in scenes in this film, as sometimes he seems invested in his world-weary role and sometimes he doesn't. Raquel Welsh is pretty good as one of the suspects, Lainie Kazan does well in a one scene part early on, while Bonanza's Dan Blocker, playing a heavy, cannot escape his claim to fame as the famous TV theme song plays in one scene in which he appears.

There is some good, hard-boiled noir style dialogue toward the end, but at other times, the film isn't very involving, and frankly given how shady many of the characters are, black and white would have fit this film better than bright color. But, then again, this was in changing times (several scenes and images in this film would not have passed muster even two years earlier), so probably they would not have tried it in black and white.

All the poor marks taken in to account......it's still fun to see Sinatra at his wisecracking best.....Tony Rome and Sinatra are gone and perhaps so are all those Runyonesque characters.In many ways like the music he left us.....even the below par efforts of his later years, there are a few similar films which kind of grow on you and certainly the Tony Rome films can be included. While its not "Some Came Running" or "Man with the Golden Arm" they do compare to the celebrated "Rat Pack" movies which seem to be getting a revival of sorts.Or perhaps it's just that absence makes the heart grow fonder....nice to remember there were guys like that around not too long ago.....like an older relative of mine recently said..."I sure miss those kind of guys".My guess is that as we get further and further away from the days of the rat pack we my become fonder and fonder of Tony Rome and Lady in Cement

Sinatra reprises his role of Tony Rome in this light weight murder mystery. Rome is hired by Dan Blocker to find out what happened to a young woman found dead in cement shoes. The movie is where the search takes him. Its more romp than real mystery with a light smart mouthed attitude hanging over everything. Its an enjoyable 93 minutes, certainly the laughs and the fun nature keep you watching, unfortunately you really do wish that there was some weight to the proceedings. The mystery has no real urgency and no real need to be solved other than it puts Rome in motion. Many of the actors, Sinatra included, seem to be walking through the film (and Raquel Welch seems unable to even do that). Of course then there is Dan Blocker as Gronsky, the man who hires Sinatra and who is much more trouble than he's worth. Blocker is a real joy to behold and if there is any real reason to see this film its him and his performance, its a blast. Mostly unremarkable, this film is still worth seeing for the mindless entertainment of it all. Recommended for those times when you want absolutely nothing to tax you brain.

To begin with, though it didn't do well at the box-office and is clearly inferior to its predecessor, this isn't that bad a sequel to TONY ROME (1967). The mystery this time around is more clear-cut because it starts off with a body (the titular figure); eventually, the hero (once again played by Frank Sinatra) himself is incriminated – leading to him falling out with his cop friend Richard Conte!

The female roles aren't as effective, however: Lainie Kazan makes a good impression as a go-go dancer but, despite her high billing, is restricted to just one sequence!; as for leading lady Raquel Welch, she's okay but no match for Jill St. John from the original (the script relies a bit too much on Welch's glamorous presence alone to carry the role) – and there isn't even that much chemistry between her and Sinatra! With this in mind, the star strikes up an unlikely alliance throughout with beefy and imposing Dan Blocker (from the Western TV series "Bonanza") – which gives a humorous vein to the generally hard-boiled proceedings and immediately reminds one of the Philip Marlowe/Moose Malloy partnership in MURDER, MY SWEET aka FAREWELL, MY LOVELY (1944).

Again, most of the suspects in the case are unsavory characters – from former mobsters (now ostensibly leading a respectable life) to homosexuals (remnants perhaps from Sinatra's previous collaboration with director Douglas, THE DETECTIVE [1968]). Incidentally, while the mystery in the original led to an unexpected revelation, the clues here point to either Welch or Blocker but – predictably – the identity of the real culprit is much more obvious; for what it's worth, the script was co-written by Marvin H. Albert, who created the Tony Rome character in the first place on the written page!

Miami – in all its aspects – still acts as an alluring yet dangerous backdrop to the sex and violence going on; however, Rome even gets to fight the inhabitants of the ocean as a number of sharks are attracted to the 'lady in cement' in the opening sequence! Similarly, the bouncy score supplied by Hugo Montenegro emerges to be a definite plus. One final thing: apparently, Joe E. Lewis – the singer-turned-comedian played by none other than Sinatra in THE JOKER IS WILD (1957) – puts in an appearance here as himself!

A few days ago, I watched Frank Sinatra's film "Tony Rome". Now just watched "Lady in Cement"--a sequel in which our incredibly relaxed and quite glib private detective hero investigates a VERY strange murder. When the film begins, Tony is scuba diving and discovers a body! But it's no ordinary body--it's a nude blonde whose feet were planted in cement! Obviously, the woman had been murdered--and disposed of in a very elaborate fashion. The trail leads to a gorgeous lady (Raquel Welch), a giant of a man (Dan Blocker) and an ex-mobster. Can Tony sort it all out and avoid getting himself killed?

I liked "Tony Rome" a lot and "Lady in Cement"--just not quite as much. It's a good film but occasionally the plot seems a bit convoluted and far less interesting than the characters themselves (particularly Sinatra). The music was also a bit too much after a while. It is also a LOT more sexually charged than the first film--earning an R-rating for nudity and strong language. But it also had a really nice underwater sequence, plenty of action and LOTS of smug comments from Tony. Worth seeing.