Mr. Ricco

Low key Dean Martin has to overcome toilet bowl humor, overacting character actors, and a dismal script. A lot of stereotyping makes this film stupid and unrealistic. However, if you like Dino and you are stuck inside due to the Covid 19 Pandemic, then this mess is entertaining enough to take up two hours.

Anyway, starring Dean Martin in a Chandler like story, it could not be anything else than cool, without being necessarily a light hearted film or even a comedy. I have always craved for the late sixties and early seventies period, for stories, atmospheres, characters....here, as in any private eyes plots, I would not be able to summarize this confused and too complicated tale for me. But photography, music, way of filming, everything is genuinely from the seventies, entirely, totally. The director Paul Bogart was already guilty of CHANDLER, back in 1971. I was very amused to see a director named Bogart directing a move called MARLOWE. You also have understodd why....

Take this movie for what it is -- an older Dean in a 1970's sleuth style San Francisco Drive In cop feature (with shades of Bullitt and Dirty Harry, altho Dean plays a lawyer) and you'll have 90+ minutes of fun. Lots of recognizable actors from 60s and 70s films, a script that at least follows the plot and has a good outcome (unlike many films of its day), and some good nostalgic shots of older cars, SF landmarks how grand life used to be before cell phones and hand held electronics invaded our lives. In short -- I loved it for what it was: A time capsule. Dean does look a little frazzled and aged, but he's still Dino -- and the relationship he has with his loyal dog is pretty sweet. Look for the scene where Martin, who in real life was a sensational, nearly champion golfer, pokes fun at himself not being able to sink a series of simple putts.

San Francisco defense attorney Joe Ricco (Dean Martin) gets his black militant client Frankie Steele (Thalmus Rasulala) free from murder charge and then Steele murders two cops. Ricco's friend's young son is the witness identifying Steele. Jamison (Cindy Williams) is his faithful assistant. His friend George Cronyn (Eugene Roche) is the police detective in charge of the case. During a raid of Steele's group, the Black Serpents, an unarmed Calvin Mapes is killed by a cop and his brother Purvis Mapes (Philip Michael Thomas) is framed with a planted drop-gun.

Who is Joe Ricco? That's the main question left hanging. Dean Martin is basically out of his elements. He's not doing much with the character and it's not asking much from him. He's in a perpetual hangover but he's never shown drunk. It reminds me of The Verdict with aging actors doing flawed aging lawyers. The comparison is not in Martin's favor. He's old and tired which fits the character but it's not terribly compelling. This has the slower 70's pacing without the action to jack up the intensity and the acting to create more depth. It's on the border and I put it slightly below grade.

A real departure for Dean Martin.. usually he's singing his way through a detective story. In this one, Martin is lawyer (Joe Ricco) defending a black man in a murder charge. Things get more wack when the latest two victims are cops. Is it a frame-up, or not? Cindy Williams (Shirley!!) is in here as "Jamison", Ricco's assistant. and you'll recognize Gene Roche (was the archbishop in "Foul Play.... fun film!) Here, Roche is Cronyn, head of homicide, investigating the moidah. It's pretty good. Certainly entertaining. It was the 1970s, so lots of issues to confront.. black rights, militant groups. Proper police procedures. All the things still relevant today! This was towards the end of Martin's acting career... he only made five more appearances after this, and two of those were in TV series. Cute gag where Joe (Martin) trains his dog to go fetch his ball when he slices into the woods. A fair amount of cussing and racist language and issues, so probably not for the young ones. Some clever banter between Ricco and Roch. Only rated 5.8 as of today, but that's only 400 votes. must not show this one very often. Directed by Paul Bogart, who did some REALLY well known stuff... All in the Family, Golden Girls, and the film version of the Torch Song Trilogy. It's pretty good. Surprised at the really low rating.