Charley Varrick (1973)

A yellow car with an older man and a younger woman pulled up to the bank.  It has hardly stopped than a cop arrived and announced that it was a no parking zone.  The gray-haired man declared that he had a broken ankle.  The officer nodded and let it slide.  The old man went into the bank and, no sooner did the bank manager come to look at the check than the old man drew a gun.  Two other patrons - wearing masks - also drew guns.  Outside, the cop returned and the woman shot him.  A gunbattle erupted both inside and outside the bank.  Only two of the three robbers got out of the bank and the getaway driver rammed an arriving cop car off the road and floored it as they left town.

Charley Varrick (Walter Matthau) pulled off his old man disguise and Harman Sullivan (Andrew Robinson) removed his mask.  They had hardly arrived at the secondary escape car when Nadine (Jacqueline Scott) died from a bullet wound.  She really was Charley's wife.  The remaining robbers drove away in a van, arriving at Charley's mobile home.  When they counted the money, they knew something was wrong.  They had expected no more than $30,000; they had three-quarters of a million!  While Harman was elated, Charley knew that it must be mafia money and that they were dead men.

Maynard Boyle (John Vernon) received the call from the bank manager.  Unless he recovered that money, he was a dead man.  He knew just who to put on the case: Molly.  Molly (Joe Don Baker) was a man who could not be stopped.  He made his way to the little bank in New Mexico and began to track down the robbers.

How could Charley get away with the money while also guaranteeing that the mafia wouldn't forever be a threat?  He'd need to stay ahead of Molly, keep Harman from exposing them, and convince everyone that he was a dead man.

The story is terrific, but Walter Matthau is too likable to be as coldblooded as Charley.  He is over his wife's death before the day is out.  Once we learn about her background, it looks out of character for her to start shooting cops with wild abandon.  Wasn't this their first bank robbery?  Joe Don Baker is great as a grinning hitman, a villain who easily terrifies by his mere size and presence.

Recommended.

The Kentuckian (1955)

It is the early 1820s and Big Eli Wakefield (Burt Lancaster) is heading west with his son, Little Eli (Donald McDonald).  They have big plans of relocating to Texas; Big Eli has enough money to get transport and get them started in a new land.  However, there are problems.  The Wakefields have a long-standing feud with the Fromes; Big Eli keeps a wary eye out.  Stopping in a town, Eli runs afoul of the local sheriff who tried to shoot his dog; the sheriff locks Eli in jail.  Hannah (Dianne Foster), an indentured servant, hears the sheriff send for the Frome brothers.  She frees Eli and flees as well, but the sheriff finds them.  To buy them out of trouble, Eli surrenders the Texas money.  Is Hannah now indentured to him?  How are they going to get to Texas?

Without funds, Eli finds himself working for his brother, Zack Wakefield (John McIntire), a tobacco farmer.  To avoid obvious scandal, Hannah works in a local tavern run by Stan Bodine (Walter Matthau).  Ziby Fletcher (John Carradine) is a local snake oil salesman who inexplicably stays in town for the rest of the movie, a gadfly at Bodine's tavern.  Susie Spann (Diana Lynn) is the local schoolteacher and has eyes for handsome Big Eli.  Eli is a man of the wild and is soon made the fool among 'civilized' folks.  He learns quickly but it may cost his dream of Texas.  Little Eli is especially set on Texas.

There is a lot of silliness.  The fight between Big Eli and Bodine was ludicrous.  The Frome brothers were a pair of statues who stood with grim looks on their faces and staring straight ahead.  Look menacing?  Sure.  Look human?  No.  The acting is mostly weak and many of the characters have inexplicable motivations.  Little Eli looks to be on the brink of tears, either of joy or sorrow.  Why did Bodine manufacture a fight between Little Eli and his classmate, Luke?  In a later scene, he tries to weasel out of something by saying he has a reputation to maintain as a local businessman.  Really?  After getting kids to fight each other?  Hannah, who escaped indentured servitude thanks to Eli, sold herself right back into it to pay him back.  What?  Helping him escape a date with the Fromes while locked in jail wasn't a fair trade?

Despite being in the South, there are no slaves to be seen.  There was a scene when the riverboat arrived in town and several black men in colorful attire sang about the glories of Texas, clearly trying to recruit immigrants.  Slaves?  Almost certainly, but they seemed a happy bunch.  The movie doesn't specify the year, but James Monroe is named as the President of the United States; he served from 1817 to 1825.  Also, Moses Austin - father of Stephen Austin and advocate for Texas migration - is mentioned as recently deceased.  Austin died in 1821.

Mediocre.

Hopscotch (1980)

Miles Kendig (Walter Matthau) has just busted up a spy ring in Munich that was providing information to the Mikhail Yaskov (Herbert Lom) of the KGB.  Though he had Yaskov in his custody, he let the Russian go.  Called back to Washington, he was reprimanded by Director Myerson (Ned Beatty) for letting Yaskov loose.  His field agent status is summarily ended, and he is assigned to a desk job.  Kendig doesn't take this sitting down.  He destroys his file, returns to Europe to hook up with an old flame - Isobel von Schonenberg (Glenda Jackson), and meet with Yaskov.  Though Yaskov offers him a path back into the spy game, Kendig chose a different course: he would write his memoirs, a tell-all that exposed the dirty secrets of espionage.  The first chapter provoked a manhunt by Myerson and Kendig's protege, Joe Cutter (Sam Waterston).  Can Kendig finish the book before the CIA or the KGB hunt him down?

Despite being a spy movie, there are virtually no action scenes.  This isn't James Bond or Jason Bourne.  Kendig is a professional spy who knows how to stay one or more steps ahead of his pursuers.  In fact, he is so good at the job that he teases his opponents and arranges encounters.  While this is deadly serious national security to Myerson, it's an entertaining game for Kendig.

Ned Beatty is terrific as the boss you love to hate.  Each time Kendig tweaks him, it brings a smile or a laugh.  That Kendig rented Myerson's summer house as a hideout and then triggered an FBI assault was the funniest part of the movie.

Good popcorn fun!  Recommended.

The Taking of Pelham One Two Three (1974)

It is afternoon in New York City when four men get aboard a subway train, each boarding at a different stop.  Once all are onboard, they highjack the train.  They stop in the middle of a tunnel and create havoc through the entire subway system.  The leader of the group is Mr. Blue (Robert Shaw), and he demands a million dollars in 1 hour.  Lt. Zachary Garber (Walter Matthau) of the Transit Police handles the communication, requesting more time to secure the money.  The mayor, various police officials, and subway personnel are entangled in the crisis.  Mr. Blue denies any extensions and says he will begin shooting hostages, one every minute the money is late.  Of course, everyone is utterly baffled by the plan.  How can they escape from the subway tunnels once the money is paid?  Though most think the criminals are just stupid, Garber sees that they have been very smart so far.  Clearly, they must have a plan.  Can he figure it out before they escape?

Robert Shaw is his usual excellent self.  He is one cool customer, a man not at all stressed by a high stress situation.  Hector Elizondo plays Mr. Grey, a trigger-happy goon with a mafia background.  Martin Balsam is Mr. Green, a former subway employee who knows how to operate the train and understands the procedures of the subway system.  Lastly, Earl Hindman is Mr. Brown.  It is a small part, but it was funny to see the Home Improvement neighbor, Wilson, as a machine-gun toting thug.  Matthau is good, but he doesn't have the hard edge of Shaw.  There were times that he was comedic.  One of the other transit officers was played by Jerry Stiller, who plays this straight.  I'm so used to him as George Costanza's father that I didn't recognize him for a while.  Doris Roberts has a brief scene-stealing appearance as the mayor's wife and the person who really made the decision to pay the ransom.

Fast-paced and entertaining.  Good popcorn fun.

Charade (1963)

Regina Lampert (Audrey Hepburn) returns from her vacation to find her Paris apartment stripped bare and her husband missing.  She has hardly finished walking the empty rooms when a police inspector reveals that her husband is dead.  Though he reportedly earned $250,000 from selling the contents of the apartment, no money is found among his meager possessions.  Where is the money?

At her husband's funeral, three men arrive to view the body; none of them seem to mourn his passing.  Leopold sneezed on the corpse, Tex (James Coburn) held a mirror under his nose to test for breathing, and Herman (George Kennedy) stabbed his hand with a pin.  Soon after, each visits Regina and demands the money.  However, she has an ally.  While on vacation, she met Peter Joshua (Cary Grant) and he has arrived to offer condolences and otherwise assist her.  She is soon falling for him.  She is also contacted by Hamilton Bartholomew (Walter Matthau), a bureaucrat from the American Embassy with ties to the CIA.  He explains that her husband had stolen US money during WWII with 4 other men but then absconded with all the money.  He assures her that the money is still out there and she should find it before the others do.  If not, one of them is sure to do to her what happened to her husband.

Though directed by Stanley Donen, it has an Alfred Hitchcock vibe.  Throughout the movie, one is never sure whose side Cary Grant is on.  He has a variety of aliases and backstories that are highly suspect.  Still, he is ridiculously charming and Regina finds him irresistible.  There is a peculiar mix of humor and danger; at times, it feels like Grant is in a zany comedy while the rest of the cast are in a suspense-thriller.  Even so, it is quite entertaining and recommended.

Pirates (1986)

The notorious pirate, Captain Thomas Bartholomew Red (Walter Matthau), and his sole remaining crewman, Frog (Cris Campion), are floating at sea on a rickety raft and starving.  The starvation is such that Red attempts to eat Frog.  Lucky for Frog, a Spanish galleon appears on the horizon.  They are soon aboard the ship and, despite Don Alfonso's wish to toss them overboard, are impressed as new crew.  Aware that the galleon has a golden throne in the hold, Red launches a mutiny to take the ship.  Those officers who survived - Don Alfonso (Damien Thomas) among them - are tossed into the brig.  The tables turn again and again.  Red is blind to everything but the golden Aztec throne, willing to toss away the lives of however many pirates as it takes to secure it.  Frog, his name is actually Jean-Baptiste but 'Frog' is a standard epithet for Frenchmen, is the naive and morale fellow who has fallen for Maria-Dolores (Charlotte Lewis).  He is torn between his duty to Captain Red and his desire for her.  Don Alfonso wants to marry Maria, hang the pirates, and take the gold to Spain.  How will it all end?

Walter Matthau would not have been my first choice to play a pirate but he is magnificent here.  He does a terrific job of being a cutthroat, greedy pirate but also comical and occasionally charming.  Despite his greed nearly costing him his life on several occasions, he never mends his ways.  This is often quite funny.

Damien Thomas was not the best choice for the villain.  He is too unlikable.  Sure, that's usually the point of the villain but he is technically the good guy.  There had originally been plans to cast Timothy Dalton, which would have been better.  Even when Thomas is trying to be charming, he comes across as an unsavory boor.

Though there is a lot to like about the movie, the story is unengaging.  Command of the ship just jumps between Don Alfonso and Captain Red.  Back and forth.  Worse, the ship gets repeatedly captured because Red is a really cunning pirate but Don Alfonso retakes it because Red is a greedy drunk.  Sure, it's funny once but it is less so with each iteration.  There is also a lot of unrelated fluff.  What's with the dying captain wishing he had been an Aztec?  Why include the attack of a comically fake snake on the minor character of Boomako?

Fun in parts.  Must see for Matthau fans.