IMDb RATING
5.9/10
1.4K
YOUR RATING
A paroled conman co-ordinates the robbery of an L. A. Airport bank with the arrival of the Soviet premier.A paroled conman co-ordinates the robbery of an L. A. Airport bank with the arrival of the Soviet premier.A paroled conman co-ordinates the robbery of an L. A. Airport bank with the arrival of the Soviet premier.
- Awards
- 1 win
Marian McCargo
- Dr. Marion Hague
- (as Marian Moses)
Phillip Pine
- George Logan
- (as Phillip E. Pine)
Larry D. Mann
- Officer Howard
- (as Lawrence Mann)
Al Nalbandian
- Willie Manus
- (as Albert Nalbandian)
- Director
- Writer
- All cast & crew
- Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaIn his film debut, Harrison Ford has a small, uncredited role as a bellhop.
- Quotes
Miles Fisher: [vanishing inside the bank vault] Moneeeey!
- ConnectionsReferenced in That Girl (1966)
- SoundtracksJingle Bells
Written by James Pierpont
Featured review
Making It Work For You
This film is all in the how. Dead Heat On A Merry Go Round casts James Coburn as one ruthless and amoral ex-convict who has no plans to go straight by any means. In fact he's got a score lined up on the outside that some like James Westerfield thinks he's absolutely nuts to even try. Coburn's so anxious to get out he successfully uses and seduces his prison psychiatrist Marian McCargo to get an early release.
In earlier times the lead in a film like Dead Heat On A Merry Go Round would have been played by a charming rogue type like Tyrone Power, Robert Montgomery, Douglas Fairbanks, Jr., even Errol Flynn whose real life persona as a seducer would have worked in the lead. One of the elements I found interesting was that James Coburn who has played some really deadly killers on the big and small screen only broke hearts in this film. But he's just as deadly with them as with heads.
Coburn's scheme is to rob the bank at Los Angeles International Airport while the Russian premier was arriving for a state visit. I believe the premier would have been Alexei Kosygin at the time of Dead Heat On A Merry Go Round. Of course that's going to bring law enforcement on all levels out in force at the airport. But that's the whole idea, Coburn's going to make all the extra security precautions work for him.
The whole last half of the film is the caper itself and it's one intricately plotted affair. Here's one big hint as far as the film goes. Remember some of James Coburn's early roles. As part of the plan he has to adopt the accent of a foreigner, a nationality he had played successfully on the screen before. He pulls it off beautifully.
I would also note the performance of Carmilla Sparv, the beautiful woman he actually marries and who he uses unwittingly to help case the airport before robbing it and of Robert Webber the very nervous State Department official who is truly relieved that its only a robbery taking place and not some incident involving a visiting head of a foreign government.
If you like intricately plotted caper films you will absolutely adore Dead Heat On A Merry Go Round.
In earlier times the lead in a film like Dead Heat On A Merry Go Round would have been played by a charming rogue type like Tyrone Power, Robert Montgomery, Douglas Fairbanks, Jr., even Errol Flynn whose real life persona as a seducer would have worked in the lead. One of the elements I found interesting was that James Coburn who has played some really deadly killers on the big and small screen only broke hearts in this film. But he's just as deadly with them as with heads.
Coburn's scheme is to rob the bank at Los Angeles International Airport while the Russian premier was arriving for a state visit. I believe the premier would have been Alexei Kosygin at the time of Dead Heat On A Merry Go Round. Of course that's going to bring law enforcement on all levels out in force at the airport. But that's the whole idea, Coburn's going to make all the extra security precautions work for him.
The whole last half of the film is the caper itself and it's one intricately plotted affair. Here's one big hint as far as the film goes. Remember some of James Coburn's early roles. As part of the plan he has to adopt the accent of a foreigner, a nationality he had played successfully on the screen before. He pulls it off beautifully.
I would also note the performance of Carmilla Sparv, the beautiful woman he actually marries and who he uses unwittingly to help case the airport before robbing it and of Robert Webber the very nervous State Department official who is truly relieved that its only a robbery taking place and not some incident involving a visiting head of a foreign government.
If you like intricately plotted caper films you will absolutely adore Dead Heat On A Merry Go Round.
- bkoganbing
- Mar 12, 2010
- Permalink
Details
- Release date
- Country of origin
- Languages
- Also known as
- Ladrón y amante
- Filming locations
- Lakeside Shopping Center, 301 Pass Ave, Burbank, California, USA(Location, since redeveloped.)
- Production company
- See more company credits at IMDbPro
Box office
- Budget
- $2,000,000 (estimated)
- Runtime1 hour 44 minutes
- Sound mix
- Aspect ratio
- 1.85 : 1
Contribute to this page
Suggest an edit or add missing content