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Thursday, April 14, 2011

Blindfold (1966)

A psychiatrist (Rock Hudson), while blindfolded, is taken by a national security chief (Jack Warden) to an unknown location to treat a scientist (Alejandro Rey) who has had a mental breakdown. But when the scientist's sister (Claudia Cardinale) and a CIA agent (Guy Stockwell) demand to know the scientist's whereabouts, Hudson begins to wonder if he is being used as a dupe. This comedy thriller written (adapted from a novel by Lucille Fletcher, SORRY WRONG NUMBER) and directed by Philip Dunne succeeds on its thriller aspects but falls flat when it comes to comedy. The template for this kind of romantic/comedy/thriller is Donen's CHARADE but the comedic aspects here simply aren't amusing or witty. It doesn't help that Cardinale's difficulty with the English language all but torpedoes her line deliveries. She looks sensational, of course, but the part cries out for a Stella Stevens or a Carol Lynley. The flat score is by Lalo Schifrin. The large cast includes Brad Dexter, Anne Seymour, Vito Scotti, Angela Clarke and Ned Glass.

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