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Released by: Scorpion Entertainment
Released on: 3/20/2012
Director: Geoffrey Reeve
Cast: Sven-Bertil Taube, Barbara Parkins, Alexander Knox, Patrick Allen, Vladek Sheybal, Penny Casdagli
Year: 1971
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The Movie:
“An American Narcotics Agent in Amsterdam†could also be the name of this British crime drama made in the early 1970s, as that's exactly what it is. Paul Sherman, played by Swedish actor Sven-Bertil Taube, finds himself in the heart of the city chasing down heroin smugglers. The local authorities are not too pleased to have him sticking his nose around in their town and their business, but they accommodate the Yankee well enough to assist him on his quest. Also in assistance is another agent, who is undercover. Maggie (Barbara Parkins) is more than just a colleague to Sherman, and they become more involved as the story unfolds, but it never goes into the romance part.
Sherman quickly becomes interested in a little shop that sells bibles and his interest grows concerning the local clergyman Meegeren (Vladek Sheybal, Red Dawn). Working in secret with Maggie, he gets to the bottom of what's going on between that little shop and the church. The local authorities don't seem too willing to help them, which makes the job ahead for the two even tougher. During his investigation, Sherman meets a former heroin addict whose brain was so destroyed by the drug, she has the mentality of an adolescent child. And she seems obsessed by dolls, which plays into things when the movie gets going. As the plot thickens, things take a wrong turn for the crime-fighting duo and the motivation for the American becomes less of a desire to uphold the law and more or a need for vengeance.
What seems at first to be a low-rent Bond knockoff quickly hits its own stride and is nothing like a James Bond movie. It remains grounded in a more believable and realistic setting for one thing, and it plays out like a solid crime drama for another. The movie has some great locations, being filmed in Holland in 1970, and really shows off the city of Amsterdam, giving a fantastic peek at the people and the look the city during that time. Women of leisure hanging out windows, sitting in big picture windows just waiting for the next horny buck to come along. The hippies littering the sidewalks and the drug scene are touched upon too. Great little shops are utilized as well.
The way the movie is filmed really works well to up the suspense ante, using lots of long steady cam-type shots before the steady cam was even invented. One shot in particular, the opening one, is over a full minute long and is so well done that it sucks you right into the story and keeps you there throughout the picture. There are some other great sequences in the movie, but the big draw is a KICK-ASS speedboat race through the canals of Amsterdam. It starts out in open water and goes right into the city. People are standing on bridges watching what probably had never happened in those canals before. And the chase is right up there with the great car chases the late 60s/early 70s brought to the screen: like in The French Connection, Bullitt, and The Seven-Ups. It's incredibly well executed and exciting, and the lack of music during the scene really ads to the level of intensity. The acting is of high quality too, even if the lead actor's accent bleeds through in his attempt to sound American. He's still really good as a near emotionless man on a calculated mission and he's confident but not arrogant, which makes him pretty likeable. Vladek Sheybal as the Man of God Meegeren is the standout character though, bringing a real element of slime to the movie.
The running time is a nice tight 100 minutes and it whizzes by pretty well. Interestingly shot, a good solid cat & mouse story, a great visual look, a beautiful leading lady, a weird club scene, cool music, and an awesome chase scene…this lesser-known movie is well worth watching.
Video/Audio/Extras:
Scorpion brings the movie to DVD for the first time in the U.S. with a 1.78:1 anamorphic widescreen aspect ratio. The image is mostly clear and full of detail, with really nice colors. A few sections during some night scenes look vastly different from shot to shot, but it's brief and only mentioned because that's what we do. But other than that and some minor debris here and there, it looks great. No compression issues were noticed, and there doesn't seem to be DNR applied. There's plenty of natural looking grain and the overall picture is very satisfying. The audio is a 2.0 Dolby Digital track, which sounds great. A good balance between the dialogue and the music is present, and absent is any popping or skipping or hissing. And speaking of music, the score is another great part of the movie and fits it perfectly. The commentary mentions the soundtrack has just recently been made available on CD.
The supplemental material is a great addition to the disc. The main feature is an audio commentary by members of the Retro Cinema Magazine staff and they fill the running time with tons of information about the movie and the actors. They really know how to make a commentary interesting from start to finish, and with hardly a moment of silence. Also included is an alternate cut to a scene that takes place in a night club that has some boobs in it. Nothing major, but apparently it was cut out so it could get a PG rating for the stateside release. That doesn't make sense though, as there are lots of movies during that era that had exposed breasts with a PG rating. Plus there's very visible nudity on the walls of a hookers, um, “officeâ€. There is also a trailer for the feature and trailers for other Scorpion releases: Quest for Love, Mummy, Nanny, Sonny, & Girly, Skateboard, The Last Grenade, and Where the Boys Are '84.
The Final Word:
Another great release by Scorpion. Great movie, great transfer, great extras. Get it.
