A subdued performance from Tomas Milian and a static plot sends this film down old 'average' lane. Even Fernando Sancho can't quite get animated enough.
In America, somewhere, a heist takes place and two robbers are killed. Of the other two, Scott ends up in a car crash and disfigured and the other, Fernando Sancho, gets away with the cash. Years later, Sancho has gone legit and owns a bar with the help of his guitar playing, quiet son Tomas Milian. Things are going okay until a scarred Scott turns up looking for his cash, and also looking to rope Sancho into one more heist. Milian is dragged along too for good measure.
The heist needs Sancho because he's a safe cracker, but the heist very quickly goes bad as he can't crack the safe, some guys wants to play hero and a gunshot alerts everybody within a ten mile radius, causing various bad guys to take people hostage all around the bank. They get the idea to draw the cashier from his home to the bank to open the safe, and everyone goes to the local bar to turn on each other while they wait. Oh, and Anita Ekberg runs the bar and Milian and Anita share a lot of meaningful glances at each other.
It takes about half an hour to even get to the bank, and after everyone settles in at the bar the plot is punctuated by the odd punch up and argument, but Milian's character seems to ask for him to be the strong silent type, which means he doesn't do much at all. Ekberg doesn't do much either except fight off an over-eager robber (although she does stab him in the gut). Although Sancho and Milian make a good father/son team, the only actor who stands out is Claudio Camaso as the main bad guy Scott, trying to pull off a heist, keep his men in check, and play mind games with Sancho and Milian.
Straight down the middle this one. Neither good or bad, and sometimes that's the worst crime of all. I see that Camaso was Gian Marie Volonte's brother, and that he killed himself in 1977 after murdering someone. Grim.
