Phonearl Good start, but then it gets ruined

Jenna Walter The film may be flawed, but its message is not.

Bumpy Chip It’s not bad or unwatchable but despite the amplitude of the spectacle, the end result is underwhelming.

Kimball Exactly the movie you think it is, but not the movie you want it to be.

tomsview When Alfred Hitchcock made "North by Northwest", it was so successful that the studios wanted him to make another movie in the same style. However Hitchcock wanted to move on saying, "Style is merely self-plagiarism".Nevertheless, Hollywood loved the ingredients in "North by Northwest" and attempted many variations on the theme: "Charade", "Arabesque", "Caprice" and "Blindfold", which got as close as any.Psychiatrist and playboy, Dr Bartholomew Snow, is enlisted by national security chief, General Pratt (Jack Warden), to help the recovery of Arthur Vicenti, a top scientist suffering from a mental breakdown. Vicenti is in danger from an organisation that kidnaps and sells scientists to the highest bidder.Snow, who never loses his sangfroid for a moment, is blindfolded and taken to a secret location for his meetings with Vincenti, but returns to his practice in New York so that nothing appears out of the ordinary. When Vicenti's sister, showgirl Vicky Vicenti, comes looking for her brother, she and Snow become involved along with enemy agents of varying degrees of intelligence.Eventually it all ends up in the Florida Everglades with alligators, airboats, quicksand and Rock and Claudia in a clinch at the fadeout.By this stage of his career, Rock Hudson was as smooth as Cary Grant, but how sexy was Claudia Cardinale in "Blindfold"? There is a scene in her dressing room where she wears a see-through costume with the only nod to modesty being a sprinkle of strategically placed sequins and some feathers. Claudia Cardinale was never likely to be first choice for Shakespeare, but she was such a stunning presence that it didn't matter if she wasn't totally projecting the Stanislavski Method.Although Rock could give powerful performances, he just about phoned this one in. However it's really all he needed to do and he had great comedic timing; I love his reaction when his secretary catches him in his office playing with Vicky's knee. There is a stupid fight scene with Rock using a fire extinguisher, but the clever sequence where he retraces the route when he was blindfolded makes up for it.For those who liked "North by Northwest", "Blindfold" blended the same basic ingredients well.

Edgar Soberon Torchia The original poster of this film read in big characters: "Behind the blindfold is the greatest security trap ever devised!" These formulaic promotional campaigns can kill a movie, as in this case, an above average comedy drama that today is almost forgotten. Better than one could expect, considering that Philip Dunne as a filmmaker was not among the best visual stylists from New York, "Blindfold" benefits from his talent for words and structure. He was a very good scriptwriter and for this comedy he wrote a fine script with clever dialogue (with the collaboration of theater instructor and writer W.H. Menger) for an above average mystery thriller based on a novel by Lucille Fletcher, the author of the famous radio plays "Sorry, Wrong Number" and "The Hitch Hiker". Rock Hudson might not have been as solid an actor as others who in the early 60s were in similar films (as Cary Grant in "Charade" or Gregory Peck in "Arabesque" and "Mirage"), but he excelled in romantic comedies and there's a good amount of elements from this sub-genre in "Blindfold", sharing screen time and space with Claudia Cardinale, who also knew how to be very funny. As a matter of fact I prefer Hudson paired with beautiful brunette leading ladies of European origin (Gina Lollobrigida, Paula Prentiss, Leslie Caron, Elizabeth Taylor, Jean Simmons and Claudia) than with Doris Day or Julie Andrews. Recommended.

drystyx This was once a mainstay of top movies for TV, but has since become forgotten, a victim of being one of the better movies. The older movies shown now are picked by the same people who have money in new movies, so they won't show good competition. This one had Rock Hudson playing a likable psychiatrist who becomes involved in espionage, treating a man who is a high level security risk. He is taken to the location several times, always blindfolded, and later, he must retrace his steps when he realizes something has gone wrong. A beautiful girl also has an interest in finding this location, and she builds a relationship with Rock, who does a great acting job of a heterosexual. Lots of great action, some of it before it's time. When this film was made, textbooks still claimed that no alligator ever killed a human being. Alligators become a major force here. There are lots of interesting bits, especially with the transportation the pair use in the swamp, "Henry". Enjoyable, and has all the classic attributes great movies have, without a lot of fanfare and big all star cast (although there are a few fairly big names). Well directed, and lots of fun.

iainrgreen Claudia Cardinale is the only possible reason to watch this film. She is absolutely gorgeous.The film is all over the place not knowing whether to be deadly serious or slapstick.Kidnap and murder on the one hand, then Rock Hudson fighting the bad guys with a canoe stuck on his head and then fending them off with a fire extinguisher whilst sat on a rocking horse. It made Henry "the ornery Mule" look the most dignified character and the most intelligent too.But the mere sight of Miss Cardinale!