I have only ever seen Deadfall twice. There was at least a decade between both viewings, and it was only when watching it for the second time that I realised that I remembered absolutely nothing about the movie whatsoever. Not a single scene. And as I decided to watch for a second time for the purpose of writing about it, I knew why. Deadfall is dreary, dull and monotonous. Caine struggles manfully to make some sense of it all, and whilst his dialogue is delivered reasonably well, one gets the distinct impression that, coming four years after Zulu, he was still agreeing to roles such as this one for fear of his elevation to stardom suddenly ending. The irony of course is that many more roles in films such as this one and that would have been the very thing that did happen. There was one mildly amusing piece of dialogue. When asked why he doesn't like dogs, cat burglar Caine replies: 'Because they remind me of the last time I worked. I had a paper round'. Although quite what non-European audiences made of that remark remains to be seen. So, what's wrong with Deadfall? Caine plays a highly intelligent burglar Henry Clarke, who is persuaded by ageing criminal Richard Moreau (Eric Portmann) and his strangely youthful yet delectable wife Fe (Giovanna Ralli) to steal diamonds from a local château owned by a millionaire playboy. Fine so far. But after the 18 minute scene showing the heist which is interspersed with a concert performance conducted by John Barry (in person no less), the film falls apart badly. Directed by Brian Forbes, there are far too many pointless scenes which fail to inspire. The continental location (in this case Spain) almost reminds one of the similar backgrounds in The Magus, and we certainly don't want to go there. As already mentioned, the film is scored by John Barry, and virtually every note feels like it is about to turn into the theme from You Only Live Twice. There is even a title song by Shirley Bassey to try and turn the movie into something it clearly won't ever be. It's almost as if Forbes has found a load of film on a cutting room floor from one of the Bond movies and pieced it together to make Deadfall. Caine aside, the rest of the cast just look hopelessly out of place. Leonard Rossiter inexplicably pops up in just one scene, and Portmann hams it up like a failed Shakespearian. But it's Ralli that must shoulder some of the blame here. She is mind numbingly awful as Caine's lover, and whilst her appearance is certainly easy on the eye, her delivery is deadpan and dreadful in equal measure. Forbes even casts his wife Nanette Newman in the film, and it sums it all up when her character in the cast list at the end is referred to as 'The Girl'. She is cringingly bad and serves absolutely no purpose whatsoever, although in fairness, she, like Ralli is certainly pleasing on screen until she's given something to do or say. Difficult to know what this films wants to be, and perhaps it is that lack of identity that does for it. Thank goodness Caine made The Italian Job the following year.
Review of Deadfall
