Lady Ice (pan and scan)

 

Picture: C     Sound: C     Extras: C-     Film: C

 

 

For Donald Sutherland, Robert Altman’s M*A*S*H (1970) was such a breakthrough, that he was picking up all kinds of projects.  The ones that did work helped his career and those that did not are curiosities, because he was always trying to pick something different.  Lady Ice (1973) was an attempt to be part of a sophisticated heist thriller, and though it has a good cast, locations and sports cars, it never comes together.

 

Andy Hammond (Sutherland) robs a very valuable necklace from a transporter and decides to shop it around.  Paul Booth (Patrick Magee) is among a short list of those he could offer the prized piece to, but unlike the competition (including Eric Braeden), Booth has a daughter (Jennifer O’Neill) that Andy has taken an interest in.  Andy also has a police inspector (Robert Duvall) on his tail, so that fills out the situation.

 

Unfortunately, despite the cast, which also includes Perry Lopez and Jon Cypher, the film never takes off.  Sutherland and O’Neill are not badly matched, but the chemistry is limited.  Not enough is made of the other stars, meaning the script was not thinking ahead.  It is interesting to see all the early 1970s “chic” and locations, but Lady Ice is more cold than hot.

 

The film opens and closes with its original 2.35 X 1 frame, but this DVD offers the film in an inferior pan and scan print.  That is a shame, because it is shot by veteran cinematographer Lucien Ballard, A.S.C., who was an innovator of the scope frame.  This is probably more fun to see widescreen all the way, despite not being that good.  The Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono is not what it could be for a film its age, and the music is not memorable.  The few extras include brief biographies of a few of the actors (Sutherland, O’Neill, Duvall) and previews for other VCI titles.  A trailer would have been interesting, but what you get is average and for the most curious only.

 

 

-   Nicholas Sheffo