BLINDFOLD: Blu-ray (Universal, 1965) Kino Lorber

Unable to plant itself firmly, either as a capable spy thriller or light parody of the genre, director, Philip Dunne’s Blindfold (1965) lands in a sort of creative ‘no man’s land’, lightly seasoned with some rank comedy and a few intriguing action vignettes. The real problem with Blindfold is that it trips over its mixed metaphors and tropes on route to its inevitable conclusion. With an underlay of goofy devil-may-care, Rock Hudson plays a Manhattan head-shrinker who finds himself embroiled in an unlikely bit of heavy-handed espionage. Hudson is Dr. Bartholomew Snow, a successful psychiatrist with a penchant for dumping jilted lovers on the eve of announcing their wedding engagements. Dr. Snow’s shoot-from-the-hip secretary, Smitty (Anne Seymour) never takes anything her boss says or does seriously, and neither does his latest hot-tempered flame du jour, cabaret dancer, Vicki Vincenti (Claudia Cardinale), who accidentally – on purpose – rides her bicycle into Snow’s galloping horse in Central Park. All this would be back story of a kind, if Blindfold were a featherweight screwball about cute meets and joyous defeats. Alas, the screenplay by Dunne and W.H. Menger, based upon the novel by Lucille Fletcher, has bigger fish to fry. And so, Snow is introduced to the mysterious General ‘just call him George’ Prat (Jack Warden) and his second in command, Capt. Davis (Hari Rhodes), assigned to unlock the top secret research hidden in the paralytic mind-trap of a deeply scarred scientist, held against his will in a Southern back water, code-named ‘Base X’.  The wrinkle: the man is Arthur Vincenti (Alejandro Rey), Vicki’s beloved brother.

Released approximately two years after Stanley Donen’s ebullient and uber-chichi, Charade (1963), Blindfold seems rather transparently to a be knock-off, heavily influenced but not nearly as clever or proficient as Donen’s masterpiece; Dunne, desperately pitching his comedy with a modicum of suspense, before jettisoning the jokes in favor of a straight-forward race against time. Donen’s counterbalance and mastery are missing here – and so is the presence of a star of Cary Grant’s caliber; Hudson, although a big ‘name above the title’ then, very much ill at ease when made to look ridiculous, such as during his assault with a fire extinguisher on a band of ruthless rogue agents, front lined by James Fitzpatrick (Guy Stockwell), or, in another scene where, while attempting to scale a wrought-iron fence, Snow gets his pants caught on one of the pointy spires. It’s odd, because Hudson proved he could be thoroughly charismatic, playing the fool in some of the decade’s most memorable comedies, including Pillow Talk (1959) and Man’s Favorite Sport (1964). Blindfold is trying to tap into Hudson’s allure as the brawny buffoon. Alas, the plot never angles or even dovetails the disconnect between Hudson’s butch facade and the bungling foot soldier in the General’s purposeful service.

Fletcher’s novel, originally published in 1960 was marked as a ‘swiftly told’ page turner. But Dunne’s movie has an uphill climb to be considered half as good, chiefly because the romantic chemistry between Hudson and costar, Claudia Cardinale just isn’t there; her thoroughly fractured English, adding yet another layer of ho-hum-drum boredom to these perplexed proceedings. Not long after the novel’s publication, 2oth Century-Fox snatched up the screen rights, assigning producer, David Helwell and screenwriter, Robert Bassing to massage the details. Regrettably, Fox was embroiled in two notorious and unwieldy productions simultaneously. Each threatened to close the studio's doors for good; the first, the super-colossus being shot in Rome – Joseph L. Mankiewicz’s Cleopatra (eventually released 1963) – that monopolized every last asset Fox had to spare; the second, Something’s Gotta Give – the ill-fated and never-to-be-completed final film to have starred Marilyn Monroe before her untimely death. In the wake of these devastating debacles and setbacks, Blindfold fell by the waste side. As the years passed, interest in the project resurfaced, this time at Universal Studios; Fox, selling off its interests to former press agent turned producer, Marvin Schwartz, who already had a package deal in place to include Hudson, Dunne and W.H. Menger.  

In the preliminary stages of pre-production, Ronald Reagan is rumored to have auditioned for the role of the baddie, Fitzpatrick; Reagan, backing out after Dunne expressed his misgivings about casting him, and Reagan, inferring it was no great loss, since he was already contemplating leaving the biz to go into politics. Blindfold would divide its shoot between Manhattan and Florida’s Paradise Park on Silver River, with other Floridian locales to include Sharpes’ Ferry Bridge, Indian Lake and Silver Springs Airport.  To keep costs to a minimum, Dunne employed actors from Ocala’s Community Theatre Group as stand-ins and doubles. For authenticity during the swamp scenes, he also hired Ross Allen of the Reptile Institute to provide real live alligators, either tethered or corralled by wranglers, but placed in relatively close proximity to our stars.  After a moodily orchestrated main title by Lalo Schifrin, Blindfold begins in earnest with Dr. Bartholomew Snow’s ambush on horseback while enjoying a quick gallop through Central Park. Gen. Pratt, a national security chief, is eager to have Snow – a renowned Manhattan psychiatrist - accompany him and his cohort, Capt. Davis to attend one of Snow’s former patients - Arthur Vincenti, being held against his will at an undisclosed location in the South. Although reluctant to comply, Snow agrees to this arrangement, is taken blindfolded aboard a plane, then driven through miles of dark and seemingly abandoned Florida backwoods to an abandoned mansion in the Everglades. He finds Arthur deeply troubled, having suffered a mental breakdown, and, practically in a catatonic state; stirred momentarily to attack him before being subdued by the General’s agents. Unaware as yet, Snow’s movements are being rigorously shadowed by James Fitzpatrick and New York City Police Det. Harrigan (Brad Dexter). Each is suspicious of Snow’s recent nocturnal activities, but for decidedly different reasons.

Meanwhile, under the false assumption Snow has abducted her brother, Vicky clumsily inveigles an introduction by driving her bicycle into the side of Snow’s galloping horse. Feigning injury, she is attended to by Snow, who is later detained by police for questioning. Instead, Snow tells the authorities he and Vicky are actually having a lover’s quarrel to do with their pending marriage plans. The ruse deflects the police’s interest in the case – momentarily – but raises a ruckus in the Vincenti home as Vicky’s mama (Angela Clark), uncle Michelangelo (Vito Scotti) and younger brother, Mario (John Megna) all believe Vicky is on the verge of finding true happiness with the handsome doctor whose past ‘love ‘em and leave ‘em’ strategy has been splashed across the front pages of all the local tabloids.  Michelangelo owns UndieDummies – a company that produces mannequins for department stores. Snow’s cover story manages to deflect everyone’s interest in the case; all, except for Harrigan, who is certain the ‘good doctor’ has lied to him. Meanwhile, Fitzpatrick arrives at Snow’s offices under the pretext of being CIA, and suggesting to Snow that the man he calls ‘the General’ is actually a KGB double agent who means to do both him and Arthur Vincenti serious harm once Arthur’s gives up his top-secret intel.

Unable to trust either side, Snow plays a percentage, and, both sides against the middle until Fitzpatrick is revealed to be the real rogue agent. But by then, the General is forced to break off all contact with Snow who has become too much a liability to continue on the case. The problem: Fitzpatrick has figured out the location of Base X and is on his way to ambush the General and Capt. Davis, thus gaining access to Arthur by force. As Snow cannot convince any of the various branches of the Federal government he is on their side, Snow begs Vicky’s indulgence, hoping to intercept Fitzpatrick before it’s too late, Snow – already having broken his engagement to Vicky, now pleads for her help in retracing the path to Base X as he has only ever known it blindfolded. After some bitter reluctance, and a harrowing chase through the back allies and byways of New York to escape Harrigan, who has come for Snow’s arrest, Vicky and Snow arrive at the secret location, tucked away in the Florida Everglades. Alas, Fitzpatrick has already ambushed the General, who is badly beaten and being held prisoner in the mansion, along with Arthur. Vicky and Snow find Capt. Davis roughed up, but otherwise unharmed. Together, and under the cover of night, these three rescuers return to the abandoned manor house. Having succeeded in stealing a hovercraft from two of Fitzpatrick’s accomplices, who meet an untimely end with some alligators, Snow sneaks onto the nearby docks, saturates Fitzpatrick’s getaway boat with gasoline, and sets both it and the docks ablaze to prevent their hasty departure.  

Fitzpatrick and his men emerge to discover their seemingly foolproof plan suddenly falling apart. Snow, Vicky and Davis make their way into the mansion by way of the basement storm cellar. While Fitzpatrick and his henchmen fuss over putting out the fire, Snow has Vicky and Davis rescue the General, whose leg is badly wounded, and, Arthur – miraculously in much better shape both physically and mentally. Now, this foursome escapes the same way they came in, while Snow holds Fitzpatrick at bay with a pistol at the front door. Surrounded, Snow makes a harrowing dash on foot, diving into alligator-infested waters and narrowly avoiding Fitzpatrick’s gunfire. Snow, Vicky, the General, Davis, and Arthur steal away aboard the hovercraft. But Fitzpatrick’s men have put a few holes in its engine, causing it to stall. As Fitzpatrick and his men close in, Vicky, Davis, Arthur, the General and Snow to flee on foot through the swamps. Unable to forge on ahead, the General orders Snow to leave him behind and save Arthur at all costs. Mercifully, the army arrives in the nick of time – intercepting Fitzpatrick and his crooked cohorts. Relieved, as their ordeal is at an end, Vicky and Snow embrace; apparently ready to resume their love affair for real this time.    

Blindfold is an oddball movie to say the least; its intrigues, deflated by the screwball elements in the screenplay, neither hilarious nor beguiling, just jarring to the overall arc and earnestness in its high-stakes adventure and drama. Hudson’s shrink is sincerely flawed - a dandy in long pants, never to be taken seriously, either as a psychiatrist, or, as the hero of our story. He simply blunders his way from one implausible vignette into the next, spending the first two-thirds of the story utterly hapless and easily manipulated. It might have helped if Hudson and co-star, Claudia Cardinale had any chemistry to draw upon to fill in the blanks while they amateur sleuth their way through these Floridian swamps. Cardinale, who made a huge splash playing the Princess Dala in Blake Edwards’ sparkling champagne cocktail of a comedy, 1963’s The Pink Panther (her English in that movie dubbed), takes more than a few steps back - her sexpot image watered down here, and given a hint of bitchiness that is meant to be fraught with comedic underpinnings of sexual frustration. Hudson’s frequent costar, Doris Day excelled at such wholesome yearning. But it just doesn’t work for Cardinale, who manages to make the least of her costarring status. Dunne’s direction is admirable. He keeps the plot moving. But his screenplay is tugging in too many directions – unable to decide whether it should favor the comedy or the adventure. These two seemingly disparate genres can go hand-in-glove; as many stylish capers – with a little ‘wink/nudge’ sex comedy and farce on the side - have been produced over the years. But the attenuated tightrope effect here between laughter and thrills is missing; the slackening of one to satisfy the criteria of the other – and vice versa - causing the entire edifice to crumble and then, completely fall apart.

Blindfold arrives on Blu-ray via Kino Lorber’s association with Universal Home Video. I just wish Kino would be a little more circumspect about the quality it chooses to peddle for its supplier. While Blindfold, shot in Panavision and Technicolor by the great Joseph MacDonald, sports some gorgeous color saturation, with beautiful reds, yellows and greens – the New York Central Park locales looking absolutely ravishing in all their early spring/sun-lit burgeoning of nature, the movie throughout is riddled with age-related damage that, at times, is very distracting and, in this age of digital clean-up, is also quite correctable at minimal cost. So, Uni’s lack of even applying the basics to ready Blindfold’s original elements for this Blu-ray release is just lazy – period! Contrast is excellent. Fine details abound. This is a ‘good’ effort to be sure, with only a modicum of edge enhancement to detour our viewing pleasure. Alas, we have gone beyond the era where merely to be good is akin to being acceptable. This 1080p transfer could have been spectacular with just a bit more due diligence and tweaking applied. Sloppy job, folks. The 5.1 DTS is quite immersive and sounds fabulous. Extras are limited to a trailer gallery. Not even an audio commentary, for which Kino is oft noted. Oh well, and bottom line: Blindfold is a middling thriller with middling Blu-ray authoring to boot. Judge and buy accordingly.

FILM RATING (out of 5 – 5 being the best)

3

VIDEO/AUDIO

3

EXTRAS

0