Cold Sweat

Charles Bronson is an expatriate American boat owner in the south of France, living with his wife, Liv Ullmann and his stepdaughter. He seems a lighthearted guy, until James Mason shows up. Mason was his captain in the army, and the leader of a smuggling ring, which included Bronson. Bronson turned witness, and Mason went to prison. Now Mason has kidnapped Ullmann and daughter to force Bronson to take part in his latest scheme. But despite some good planning, matters soon become complicated.

It's seems like an odd trio, but despite Bronson clearly being the star, Ullmann and Mason get some fine, extended sequences. There's also some fine location camerawork around Nice and Beaulieu-sur-Mer, an exciting high-speed driving sequence, and Jill Ireland as a ditz.

Though proudly billed as Terence Young's COLD SWEAT, this turned out to be a below-average international concoction: the plot is formulaic – albeit adapted from a novel by Richard Matheson – one that Bronson often returned to, of a man whose past catches up with him (in fact, I recently watched Sergio Sollima's similar but superior VIOLENT CITY [1970]).

The film is doubly disappointing, however, for wasting the talents of actors of the caliber of James Mason and Liv Ullmann – the latter clearly wishes she was elsewhere, while the former often resorts to hamminess (with a ridiculous American accent to match). As expected, the narrative flanks Bronson with real-life spouse Jill Ireland – here in perhaps her most embarrassing performance as a spoiled hippie brat; needless to say, the star more often than not lets his physique do the acting for him – but his is an undeniable screen presence and, as I've written elsewhere, he just happened to fit the bill for what was required of an action star in the late 60s/70s.

The supporting cast also includes Michel Constantin (who was also in VIOLENT CITY), "Euro-Cult" regular Luigi Pistilli, and Jean Topart – all of them appearing as members of Mason's gang, with the latter being the most villainous of the lot and who gets his just desserts in memorable fashion. The best thing the violent film has going for it are the plentiful and exciting action sequences, particularly a lengthy – if somewhat irrelevant – car chase towards the end (once again, the work of Remy Julienne). Though the budget DVD at least presented it in the correct aspect ratio, the print for COLD SWEAT (which, along with a few other Bronson titles, has fallen into the public domain) was still too soft and murky to do justice to its variety of European locations.

Yeah, it's a terrible euro-pudding bomb, and Terence Young never was much of a director, but it's also a film I saw when I was 12, where I discovered Bronson. As bad as the film (really !) is, CB is physically at his absolute best in it : thick moustache, black T-shirt, pumped-up muscles, he walks through "Cold sweat" with an incredible presence. Of course, his couple with Liv Ullmann is laughable, James Mason looks bored to death (he should be), Jill Ireland is pathetic as a hippie drug dealer (she did it again in "Assassination" years later). But as far as Bronson's mythology is concerned (in Europe, at least), "Cold sweat" meant something at the time. The first time he was publicized as a superstar. For fans only...

Charles Bronson is as cool as cool gets in this okay action-thriller based on a Richard Matheson novel. Bronson plays "Joe Martin", American expatriate and boat expert living in France with a wife (Liv Ullmann) and stepdaughter (Yannick Delulle). One eventful night, his dark past catches up with him; an old associate, Ross (James Mason) wants him to atone for a past mistake by getting mixed up in the drug trade.

"Cold Sweat" is an okay film of its kind. No more, no less. It's directed with some competence if not an over-abundance of style by Terence Young ("Thunderball"). It mostly derives tension from the pressure put on Joe by such characters as Ross, Whitey (Michel Constantin), and Fausto (Luigi Pistilli). Of course, one is never in much doubt that Bronson will rise up righteous and kick some ass. He handles much of what goes on with some true savvy - and a fair amount of amusing dialogue.

A drawling Mason is great fun to watch, especially as Ross must deal with unexpected difficulties. Some folks might say that Ullmann is slumming here, but she offers an appealing performance as a wife who tries her best to be strong. Bronson's real-life love Jill Ireland is okay as a moll. But it's Jean Topart who tends to steal the show, cast as a tough-talking, trigger-happy goon named Katanga.

The unqualified highlight of the film is an extended car chase that is at least reasonably exciting. Bronson, who's at the wheel, has a pretty imposing (and unlikely) deadline staring him in the face.

Overall, "Cold Sweat" is well worth a look for fans of the star.

Seven out of 10.

Cold Sweet (1970)

** 1/2 (out of 4)

Charles Bronsplay plays Joe Martin, a man living a happy life with his wife (Liv Ullmann) and her daughter. All of that is thrown out the window when his past comes back to haunt him. Captain Ross (James Mason) demands that Joe use his boat for a drug trade and this leads to a cat and mouse game.

Terrence Young directs this entertaining if rather light weight action picture that fans of the action legend will enjoy while others will probably not be overly entertained by the thin plot. There's no question that the plot really isn't all that original and that a re-write certainly wouldn't have hurt. Even by 1970 we had seen countless movies dealing with the family man and his past catching up with him.

What keeps COLD SWEET moving and entertaining is the fact that you've got a wonderful group of actors. Bronson was just a natural at playing this soft-talking tough guys and he turns in a good performance. Both Ullmann and Mason certainly have much more important roles in their careers but it's still fun seeing them in a film like this. Jill Ireland plays a hippie chick and it's Luigi Pistilli who steals the picture as a cold-hearted bad guy.

COLD SWEET features some very good action scenes including the finale with an excellent sequence of a car going down the side of a cliff that is highly entertaining. Again, this is a fun action film but one wishes that there was a bit more to the story.