The Four Deuces

Customer Reviews:

It's a piece of garbage.......2005-07-14

The good reviews about this movie are written by hacks who will make money if you buy it. Don't. It's a piece of garbage.

"That's one less member of the scum race.".......2005-05-09

Set in the prohibition era, this movie walks a narrow and sometimes uncomfortable line between comedy and drama. It claims to be a satire, and if viewed as such, it is a total failure, for I found very little to laugh at (with a few exceptions). But the exceptional cast, violence, and pretty women (especially the hottie Carol Lynley!) earn the movie a four-star rating. Needless to say, if the director had chosen to make the movie 100% drama, it would've been far more effective and entertaining.

Jack Palance stars as Vic Morono, a well-known gangster who owns a nightclub and enjoys being the center of attention. His main rival, Chico, is also a mob boss who owns a nightclub, and as the movie progresses, so does the violence as these two powerful and ruthless gangsters try to eliminate each other. Sexy Carol Lynley plays Wendy, who is Vic Morono's girlfriend but is drawn to a reporter who is also a close friend of Vic's. Eventually, there's a final battle between the opposing mobs in which few survive, but Carol and the reporter may still be in danger once Vic discovers what's going on behind his back.

Pretty "dames" and plenty of shootouts make up for the strained attempts at comedy, and Palance commands attention as usual with another great gangster role (which reminds me of his earlier film noir roles of the 50's). The movie is rated "R" but is rather tame, with no nudity, and only brief language which would earn it a PG-13 rating nowadays, at most. The dvd has a fair image and sound quality but I do wish a better-restored version will become available in the future. Overall, definitely worth watching if you're a big fan of the gangster genre.

Comedy!.......2004-10-07

Nice to see this old classic for sale on dvd! New remaster is recommended. A genuine action comedy about the the 1930s nightclub/mob life during prohibition.

Bang! Bang! Don't bother!.......2003-07-22

Steely Palance and luscious Lynley are wasted in this shoot 'em up "spoof" of gangster flicks.

Average customer rating:

The Four Deuces
Starring: Warren Berlinger , H.B. Haggerty , Johnny Haymer , Martin Kove , and Carol Lynley
Director: Jr. William H. Bushnell
Manufacturer: Genius Entertainment
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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ASIN: B0006H31YO
Release Date: 2004-01-01

Average customer rating:

Approach with caution

Gang of Four

ProductGroup: DVD
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ASIN: B00005TNF8

Description

Anna, Joyce, Claude and Lucia are all students under the tutelage of Constance Dumas, a renowned film instructor. Lucia moves in with the other girls in a small house outside of Paris. Soon after, Lucia is attacked on the street outside her home and saved by a mysterious stranger. She soon finds the stranger is involved with all the girls and is hiding a dark secret inside the house.

Customer Reviews:

Approach with caution.......2002-02-05

There appears to be a story behind the making of this film, however, I was and remain unfamiliar with it - Rivette seems to be making a political point about political machinations, cover-ups, and the jailing of innocents. This being a release from the mediocre crew at Image Entertainment, there are no onscreen extras and no printed essays to give the viewer any clue as to the exact intentions of Rivette. What is more (or less), the transfer is poor, with a grainy digital image and thin sound - given there are few close-ups, the bad image quality continually intrudes as the actors facial expressions are difficult to discern.
*
Rivette proposes an unusual scenario - an acting class for young women, taught by a reclusive but once celebrated actress - into this matriarchal nest sneaks a man, at once a liar, a manipulator, and some kind of organ of the state, possibly a policeman, possibly a less accountable agent. Gradually his schemes are revealed, and the action here is counterpointed by scenes from a play the acting students are rehearsing - or, to be more accurate, counterpoint seems to be the idea, but it made little palpable impact on me.
*
As most of the actresses are quite young, there is the feeling that you are viewing a student film, a first feature at any rate. Some scenes have a disarming naturalness, but others are forced, and those calling for strong emotion feel weak and artificial. And the technical aspects of the film, in particular set design and sound, are uniformly lacklustre. Rivette certainly disdains conventional cinematic methods, but it is unclear that his alternatives are worthwhile.
*
It is hard tor recommend this film, although it does seem something of a worthy failure - Rivette has distanced himself deliberately and effectively from Hollywood cliches, and he has extracted reasonable, if not outstanding, performances from his cast - I'm not sure if any of the leads have gone on to greater things (I think not), but it was interesting to see a very young Irene Jacob in a very minor role
*
Of the other Rivette films I've seen, 'Wuthering Heights' is incomparably worse (one of the worst adaptations of any novel I've ever seen), while 'La Belle Noiseuse' is incomparably better, definitely ranking in a personal 'Top Twenty' films of all time.

Average customer rating:

Four Deuces
Starring: Jack Palance; Carol Lynley; Warren Berlinger; Adam Roarke; E.J. Peaker; Gianni Russo
Director: William H. Bushnell Jr.
Manufacturer: Reel Enterprises
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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ASIN: B000PDZRXM
Release Date: 2007-04-13

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