Arab Conspiracy (aka The Next Man/1976/Cheezy
Flicks DVD)
Picture:
C- Sound: C Extras: C- Film: C+
After Vanishing Point (1971, see our Blu-ray
review elsewhere on this site), Director Richard C. Sarafian was looking for
more material that would work and be a hit.
This included several ambitious theatrical film releases like Lolly Madonna XXX and Sunburn, but one that has sort of been
lost is a Sean Connery film of all things that may be too politically incorrect
for certain people, but is now out on DVD from Cheezy Flicks. Arab
Conspiracy (aka Double Hit and The Next Man) is a 1976 release that
Connery made while on a roll of great dramatic films.
In it, he
plays an Arab diplomat who wants peace with Israel and make them an OPEC
member! Well, that seems lofty then and
now, but this was an ambitious film at the time and distributed by a company
Connery and Michael Caine eventually sued out of existence for not paying them
properly on profits for The Man Who
Would Be King: Allied Artists.
Connery’s
character represents Saudi
Arabia and the idea is that he is playing a
fictional version of a character that would or could become a prominent
political figure or even Nobel Peace Prize contender for boldly trying to
change the course of history. Of course,
there are those who want to keep things the old way, no matter how many people
are killed or the world suffers. In
this, the film is saying what post 9/11 films like Syriana and Munich is,
though the film is uneven when all is said and done.
This is
certainly not due to lack of ambition or not understanding the politics of the
situation. Sarafian co-wrote the
screenplay with Morton Fine (of the original I Spy among many other great teleplays), Alan Trustman (Bullitt) and David M. Wolf done as a
serious, mature, adult piece that tries to take advantage of having Connery on
board in the lead. Cornelia Sharpe, Adolfo
Celi (Connery’s Thunderball co-star
here too briefly), Albert Paulsen and a young Lance Henriksen are among the
supporting cast that help.
There are
also some interesting moments, from action sequences, to character development
to visuals that forward the narrative.
As much of the film takes place in New York City
and has several interesting scenes at the United Nations, there are also a few
moments the then-new World
Trade Center
towers are prominently featured as a possible beacon of hope, change and/or
irony. This is an example of the kind of
effort put into the film that makes it worth seeing, despite its age and mixed
results.
The was not
only one of Allied Artists’ last films, but is also the last film from
production company Artist Entertainment Complex (Serpico, Dog Day Afternoon)
involving longtime producer Martin Bregman, though Bregman continued to be a
major producer decades after and reportedly kept changing the film around too
much during production. Serious film
fans will want to catch this at least once, no matter how “cheesy” some of the
results now seem. This is a full-length
The 1.33
X 1 color image may or may not be a soft matte frame, but the original film was
1.85 X 1 and this copy does cut well when you zoom in on it with a 1.78 X 1/16
X 9 HDTV. Sadly, Cheezy Flicks was not
able to secure the best possible copy of the film and it looks faded and has
serious detail issues. However, this was
lensed by the very talented Director of Photography Michael Chapman (Taxi Driver, Raging Bull, Hardcore) and
he pulls off a good looking film even this transfer cannot get in the way
of. The PCM 16/48 2.0 Mono is a little
better, but the source is at a lower level than I would have liked and
distorted throughout, but note this was an optical mono sound theatrical
release. Extras include some
Intermission shorts originally featured in theaters and previews for other Cheezy
Flicks DVD releases.
You can
order this DVD from the Cheezy Flicks website in the DRAMA section at:
http://www.cheezyflicks.com/
Just
click on the CATEGORIES button on the upper left hand corner.
- Nicholas Sheffo
