Noon Sunday (1975)

The movie isn’t every totally clear about who our main characters are.  But they have been dropped off on opposite sides of a small island nation to simultaneously assassinate both the General who is in charge and his 2nd in command.  We do find out at the opening that a foreign power wants to install missiles on the island, which will put other nations at risk, including “us”.  They are to time it so that both assassinations happen at noon on Sunday (thus the title).  Of course things don’t go as expected with a parade canceled and a church filled with children.  Will they still get the job done?  Will they make their ride off the island?

Yes and No.  So there you go now you don’ t have to sit thru this one.  Seriously I’m doing you a huge favor.  This movie feels like it was put together by someone who was winging it with the story as they went.  Nothing about the movie is believable at all.  The guards don’t seem to notice anyone that is walking or talking right next to them.  At the same time one of our leads doesn’t even seem to be in good enough shape to run across a field, much less avoid the guards chasing him.  Oh and the story is so full of strange little subplots that never get resolved or explained that I was scratching my head.  One of the assassins has this flashback involving his daughter, which I suppose was supposed to foreshadow something later on.  When he has the general in his sights he hesitates because of the little girl in the man’s arms.  Though that doesn’t stop him from blowing both of them away.  The other assassin apparently has a history on the island.  So he knows the sister of his contact, who he beds and then kills because she is a spy!  There are more things like this, but I won’t waste your or my time.

The action sequences are staged poorly.  There are groups of people in the open shooting with machine guns at each other.  Yet they seem to have a difficult time hitting anything.  That is except for our heroes who seem to be able to pick everyone off with their pistols…  I could talk about the music, which is bad.  Or the sound that goes in and out.  Though I don’t believe this was the print that I was watching.  Nope because when it gets hard to hear is when the characters are whispering.  Really I have no idea what they were thinking. 

I had some hope for this movie when I saw that it had both Mark Lenard and Keye Luke in it.  Though it seems that both were just picking up a paycheck.  Plus I never noticed it before but I don’t think that Lenard should have been cast as a romantic lead.  His scene with the lady is so freaking awkward and when he calls her a nasty name (she did stab him!) it doesn’t work.  Just terrible casting and performances from both actors. 

I suggest that everyone pass on Noon Sunday.  Though if you really must check it out the nice folks over at Mill Creek have put it out on a budget set called Dangerous Babes.  Not sure how it ended up on that one.

1 out of 4

reviewed by John Shatzer

© Copyright 2011 John Shatzer