ThiefHott
Too much of everything
Smartorhypo
Highly Overrated But Still Good
JinRoz
For all the hype it got I was expecting a lot more!
Chirphymium
It's entirely possible that sending the audience out feeling lousy was intentional
GeoPierpont
not one person complained about the ability to see ANY markings 6feet away on a 5card fan... oh well, no poker players reviewing here and the fact that he was always dealing in the "Bunko" game was problematic... very plodding angst less scene after scene save for the wondrous views of the famous world casinos, have been to many and savour the opulence with the crowning moments in that Dominion Castle!! where did they find that gem... Angel was cute not seXy like other Beatty co-stars ala Julie C. but intelligent design was uneven... i.e. throwing the gun away during a fight saying she just doesn't like guns, fighting, but death is just A OK???!!! with low expectations for any redeeming value in script excitement I can only recommend for location shots... superbe!
ShadeGrenade
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.
Nazi_Fighter_David
People often say that major movie stars are just themselves in one role after another... Certainly many successful leading men and women do maintain a more or less consistent identity from one movie to the next...Beatty's characterization of Barney Lincoln is full of subtle, precise detail... He is a trained professional, whose cheating methods is to mark high value cards...Barney knows how to get the job done, and understands when things are getting a little too tough... But as an up-and-coming poker player facing a long-time master of the game, his cunning is tested through bluff and double bluff... Not only is there a huge fortune at stake, but also his status of being the luckiest gambler of them all...Susannah York seems to have quite a flush of youthful beauty as the spirited blonde in pursue of a handsome young player chasing his win on the Baccarat table...The film is not a complete bore, but you won't think too much about it once it's over...
swreid
Ok, so it's not going to win any awards for originality, but Beatty looks the part, Susannah looks beautiful and it all bumps along at a pleasant pace. I'm lucky enough to own a Technicolor print of this film and boy - the colours alone are enough to bring a smile to your face. A real slice of swinging '60s nostalgia.
