This is a mediocre film, but Anthony Quinn's performance raises it. Quinn usually did not play comic parts. His physical appearance was cruelly handsome, and it encouraged dramatic roles either as villains (as in his early roles) or as anti-heroes (Zampano in LAS STRADA) or as heroes (Zorba). He rarely played comedy. A typical early comedy part was in THE ROAD TO MOROCCO, where his evil sheik is a foil for Hope & Crosby, and his biggest joke is when his butt gets burned with a torch in a fire. Films like THE HAPPENING were rarities, where he was actually being funny himself.
Quinn is a former mobster in Oskar Homolka's gang, but he is now married to Martha Hyer, and partner to Milton Berle in a legitimate business. He is also wealthy. A gang of hippies led by George Maharis (including Faye Dunaway and Robert Walker Jr.), decide to kidnap Quinn for a ransom to be used for philanthropic reasons. They succeed in snatching Quinn, and he tries to get the various people in his life to pay the large ransom. But they all refuse.
What follows is like TOO MANY CROOKS and RUTHLESS PEOPLE, where the kidnapping victim goes after the person (here persons) who should pay the ransom. Using timed threats, Quinn convinces Homolka that Berle and Hyer are behind the kidnap plot, and are going to reveal mob secrets to the police if they aren't paid. He also convinces the police (Jack Kruschen) that they have done away with him and are about to flee the country. He also threatens a nervous Berle that he will tell the authorities about every crooked act that Berle was responsible for in building up their business.
But there is more to the story. Quinn discovers that the hippie Maharis is actually quite corruptible - the money is far too tempting to be wasted on philanthropy. Quinn's revenge includes a lesson for this young hypocrite too.
There are some great moments of comic energy in the film. When Hyer reveals the lack of feeling she has for Quinn, she brings up the subject of the multi-million dollar showplace mansion. She and Quinn paid an interior decorator (whom Quinn could barely stand) to do the house - and he did it in modern art. It turns out neither Hyer nor Quinn like modern art. In the last act of mutual agreement they have, they smash every bit of the decor to bits, apparently enjoying the entire explosion as though it was a great sex act! Not a brilliant comedy, or a memorable one, but it had some good points due to Quinn.
Quinn is a former mobster in Oskar Homolka's gang, but he is now married to Martha Hyer, and partner to Milton Berle in a legitimate business. He is also wealthy. A gang of hippies led by George Maharis (including Faye Dunaway and Robert Walker Jr.), decide to kidnap Quinn for a ransom to be used for philanthropic reasons. They succeed in snatching Quinn, and he tries to get the various people in his life to pay the large ransom. But they all refuse.
What follows is like TOO MANY CROOKS and RUTHLESS PEOPLE, where the kidnapping victim goes after the person (here persons) who should pay the ransom. Using timed threats, Quinn convinces Homolka that Berle and Hyer are behind the kidnap plot, and are going to reveal mob secrets to the police if they aren't paid. He also convinces the police (Jack Kruschen) that they have done away with him and are about to flee the country. He also threatens a nervous Berle that he will tell the authorities about every crooked act that Berle was responsible for in building up their business.
But there is more to the story. Quinn discovers that the hippie Maharis is actually quite corruptible - the money is far too tempting to be wasted on philanthropy. Quinn's revenge includes a lesson for this young hypocrite too.
There are some great moments of comic energy in the film. When Hyer reveals the lack of feeling she has for Quinn, she brings up the subject of the multi-million dollar showplace mansion. She and Quinn paid an interior decorator (whom Quinn could barely stand) to do the house - and he did it in modern art. It turns out neither Hyer nor Quinn like modern art. In the last act of mutual agreement they have, they smash every bit of the decor to bits, apparently enjoying the entire explosion as though it was a great sex act! Not a brilliant comedy, or a memorable one, but it had some good points due to Quinn.