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Kaleidoscope (1966)
Directors
Stars
Kaleidoscope
Overview
Despite being independently wealthy, American Barney Lincoln, just because he can, devises and executes a plot to mark the master printing plates for the playing cards manufactured by Geneva-based Kaleidoscope, whose cards have an intricate kaleidoscope pattern on their backs. In marking the cards and knowing to which casinos the cards are to be shipped, Barney is able to win big at casino card games by reading the marked cards. Along for the ride is his new London based girlfriend, Angel McGinnis, who unknown to Barney has her own motivations in following him. Angel doesn't know what Barney is up to beyond believing that he is a good card player - too good. However, Scotland Yard does know what Barney is up to, and they co-opt him for a ploy of their own, namely to squeeze one of their marks, sadistic global narcotics dealer Harry Dominion. Dominion, who is currently deep in debt to finance a project, owns and operates his own casino, and Scotland Yard wants Barney to drain him of his funds at this vulnerable state in his life through card games of chance at his casino. Barney has no option but to cooperate with Scotland Yard. In doing so, Barney puts his and Angel's lives at risk especially if Dominion figures out Barney's scam.
Kaleidoscope Film Details
Overview: Romantic comedy which has Barney Lincoln and Angel McGinnis as a pair of amorous adventurers in the gambling places of London and the Riviera. Barney Lincoln is a rambling gambling man who …
Tagline: From London to the Riviera, a hair-raising tale of gallant love and truly desperate adventure!
Review: When producer Charles K. Feldman was asked why his 1967 film of ‘Casino Royale’ deviated so wildly from the source material, he replied that the Eon movies had already swiped most of it. He could have said instead that Jack Smight’s ‘Kaleidoscope’, released the year before, was an even more blatant steal of Fleming’s first book. Warren Beatty plays ‘Barney Lincoln’, an American playboy who devises the perfect ‘get rich quick’ plan. Breaking into the Kaleidoscope playing card factory in Geneva, he carefully marks the printing plates. The doctored cards head for Europe’s top casinos. With the beautiful ‘Angel McGinnis’ ( Susannah York ) in tow, Lincoln breaks the banks, and soon amasses a considerable fortune. But his unlawful activities bring him to the attention of New Scotland Yard. ‘Inspector Manny McGinnis’ ( Angel’s father ) wants him to bankrupt the sinister head of a narcotics ring called ‘Harry Dominion’ ( Eric Porter ). The means? A game of poker. Facing a lengthy jail sentence, Barney reluctantly agrees. Robert and Jane Howard-Carrington’s script is a more faithful version of Fleming’s book than either the 1967 all-star spoof or Martin Campbell’s 2006 retread. Porter gleefully hams it up as ‘Dominion’, a villain straight out of Bond, particularly as he has a Napoleonic complex. There’s a tense scene as he teases his men with the revelation that there is a traitor in their midst. Taking one of them ( George Murcell ) to a cellar, he retreats as the unfortunate man is incinerated with a flame-thrower. Beatty has never been one of my favourite actors ( and no, I’m not just jealous of his legendary sexual conquests ), but the role of ‘Barney’ at least allows him to be funny and charming in a Cary Grant sort of way. As sexy boutique owner ‘Angel’, Susannah York makes the most of a stock ‘love interest’ character. For me the real star is Clive Revill as the steam engine-loving police officer McGinnis. an ‘Avengers’ style eccentric to be sure. Murray Melvin ( from ‘A Taste Of Honey’ ) is also good as sharp shooting ‘Aimes’. The fine supporting cast includes the late George Sewell, Yootha Joyce, Peter Blythe, and John Junkin. Jane ‘Blow-Up’ Birkin puts in a ‘blink and you’ll miss it’ appearance. ‘Kaleidoscope’ is one of those American-funded ( Winkast Productions also made Alistair Maclean adaptations such as ‘When Eight Bells Toll’ ) pictures which exploited the Swinging London phenomenon of the time. Maurice Binder’s title sequence offers a picture postcard view of the capital seen through the afore-mentioned novelty toy. Fortunately, arch scenes like the one in which Barney romances Angel in a field at night while she is perched on a cow are few and far between. Stanley Myers’ chirpy music keeps the proceedings nicely afloat, with a sitar accompanying psychedelic scene breaks of the sort later parodied by the awful ‘Austin Powers’ films. Jack Smight later made the cult film of Ray Bradbury’s ‘The Illustrated Man’. Unlike ‘Casino Royale’, there’s no big torture scene here, although Barney gets his legs hit at one stage with ( ironically ) a poker. Though not a spy film, ‘Kaleidoscope’ owes enough to the Bond series to make it required viewing for fans.
Country: UK
Language: English, French, Italian, German
Duration: 103 min
Genre: Comedy, Crime
Also known as: Kaleidoscope,Kumarbaz,La truffa che piaceva a Scotland Yard,Banco pour un escroc,Der Mann, der alle Banken sprengte,Banco voor een oplichter,Kaikkien aikojen kaappaus,Der Gentleman-Zinker,The Bank Breaker,カレードマン 大胆不敵,Le gentleman de Londres,Um Jogador Romântico,Un aventurero en Monte Carlo,O hartopaiktis kai i mini fousta,Sådan laver man penge,Två äss i ärmen eller Kaleidoscope,Caleidoscópio,Ο χαρτοπαίκτης και η μίνι φούστα,Magnífico bribón,Kaleidoszkóp,Un Aventurero en Monte Carlo,Kalejdoskop
