Machine Gun McCain (1969)

This movie opens with a con named Hank McCain getting a pardon and out of jail early.  It seems that his son paid off the right people to get him out of prison so that they can do a job in Vegas.  What McCain doesn’t know, but kind of suspects, is that a big time mobster on the West coast named Charlie Adamo is bankrolling the heist.  When Adamo finds out that the casino he wants hit belongs to the “family” back East he tries to call off McCain.  But McCain being the bad ass that he is doesn’t care and does the job anyway.  This leads to him being chased by both the cops and the mobsters who have figured out he pulled the job.  Can McCain get out of the country with the loot before they catch up with him?  Well you will just have to pick up this excellent Blu-Ray from Blue Underground and see for yourself.

And in spite of some flaws I do think that everyone should pick this one up.  First of all if you dig crime stories then this one will have everything you could want.  You have a great lead character in McCain that is portrayed as a real old school tough guy by actor John Cassavetes.  Seriously seeing McCain hit the bars and pick himself a new girlfriend is a totally ‘60s cinema.  See girl, beat the crap out of the guys that are trying to pick her up, and then take her home!  Then you have the heist that is sort of complicated, but exciting and just plausible enough to work (on screen in a movie anyway).  There is also the before mentioned beautiful girlfriend played by an icon of the decade, Britt Ekland.  If that weren’t enough we get to meet McCain’s ex-girlfriend by the end of the movie and she is played by the always excellent Gena Rowlands!  I mean this is seriously shaping up to be a killer movie.  But my favorite thing about Machine Gun McCain is watching Peter Falk get his “villain” on as the mobster Charlie Adamo.  Falk plays an excellent bad guy, and I’m sort of sad that we didn’t get more roles like this in his career. 

Now of course there were a couple things that I didn’t like about the movie.  There is an annoying voiceover, that thankfully isn’t used that much.  But if you have read my other reviews you know how much the voiceover as a plot device bugs me.  I would have also liked to seen more of Gena Rowlands in the movie.  Her role is a glorified cameo and she doesn’t get that much screen time.  Though she has an excellent “exit”.  Other that the Machine Gun McCain is a very cool movie. 

For this review I watched the new Blu-Ray release of the movie from Blue Underground.  Included on the disc was a nifty 23-minute long conversation with director Giuliano Montaldo about not only making the movie, but also his career in general.  I thought it was very interesting to hear how he became a director. 

Not much else I can say other than I recommend everyone that is a fan of this genre really should pick up Machine Gun McCain.  It is a really fun movie that I know I’m going to check out again in the future.  I recommend it.  For more information on where you can pick the movie up and about the DVD or Blu-Ray head over to Blue Undergrounds website at http://www.blue-underground.com/

3 out of 4

reviewed by John Shatzer

© Copyright 2010 John Shatzer