Raymond Chandler created a character in Philip Marlowe that has cast a long shadow and has spawned many weak and inferior imitations. Frank Sinatra's two films as private dick Tony Rome definitely fall into that category. To utilise Sinatra's 'hip' persona no doubt seemed a great idea at the time. The results however are absolutely dire. The first of the two is just about bearable but the sheer awfulness of this one beggars belief. Pedestrian direction by journeyman Gordon Douglas, moronic script and atrocious score. When a mobster played by Martin Gabel utters the immortal line: 'I run a legitimate business' one senses what sort of film this is going to be. Raquel Welch emerges from a swimming pool in a two-piece bikini but is far less interesting when fully clothed. A previous reviewer has referred to this dismal opus as 'junk but fun'. There is absolutely no fun whatsoever in watching junk, least of all when it features an artiste of Sinatra's calibre. Things didn't get any better for him and he followed this up with the equally risible 'Dirty Dingus Magee' which effectively killed off his film career. As Sinatra himself might have said:'Pitsville, baby'!
Review of Lady in Cement
