I don't have all the words right now but this film is a work of art.

As Good As It Gets

A waste of 90 minutes of my life

The film creates a perfect balance between action and depth of basic needs, in the midst of an infertile atmosphere.

What could have been an intriguing view of "Things to Come" considering the acts of terrorism going on around the world today ends up a silly cartoon-like thriller with Boris and Natasha like villains and an over-the-hill leading man who ends up with the sexy younger woman as if he was an Americanized version of James Bond as played by Roger Moore. Howard Duff, still attractive, is out to trap Russian terrorists and stop their attempts to poison an entire city. Linda Cristal is the sexy scientist he utilizes in his quest, and of course, they end up in a romance together while working side by side in their attempts to save the world.Poor Anne Jeffreys is saddled with a one-dimensional Natasha like spy, made to look extremely severe. If recent pictures of her still being gorgeous (in her 90's!) hadn't surfaced, you'd swear her face would crack into pieces with the stone-faced character she is forced to play here. A climactic chase through L.A. is the one highlight of the film, following over an hour of boring dialog explaining the ridiculous plot to an audience its writers assume are dumb enough to believe what is going on could actually take place. Americans are presented as noble fighters for democracy, while the European villains of various nationalities are all one dimensional and anti-democracy. The only thing this is missing is a reference to "Fearless Leader".

The cover of the DVD box for this forgotten movie trumpets one of the actors in it, which happens to be Dennis Hopper. Actually, Hopper (who is almost unrecognizable) only plays a minor role in the movie. That didn't give me a problem. Watching the movie itself, one will be struck by how much it resembles a made-for-TV movie of the era, with its limited production values and flat loot. But that didn't give me a problem. What did give me a problem was the story. Actually, the first twenty or so minutes of the movie aren't that bad - there is some mystery and intrigue that kept me interested. However, after those twenty minutes are over, the next 45 or so minutes will put many viewers to sleep, with endless talk and an investigation that makes little progress. Things do pick up again in the last 25 or so minutes, but many viewers will have abandoned ship long before this part of the movie comes across. The movie also suffers from the fact that we never learn why the bad guys are doing what they are doing. Had there been more tension and action in the middle, as well as explanation for the bad guys scheme, we might have had something here. But as it is, it's more or less a disappointment.

I am somewhat surprised that it is even available to purchase -- since it is not the kind of kitschy-bad that can earn a movie cult status, nor notable as any popular achievement either. Its chief virtue is a sort of understated competence."Panic..." is plotted as a stereotypical doomsday thriller and the characters are almost, but not quite, cut from cardboard templates. But decent performances and some unusual casting choices for that era give it a certain tragic power.A romantic subplot between a white middle-aged G-man and Latina doctor is spare, with none of the histrionics you might expect from a low-budget thriller of this sort.The film's presentation of Los Angeles is a mostly unglamorous town of vacant lots, auto machine shops, shabby apartment complexes, and sterile hospital waiting rooms. The choice of locations adds considerably to its bleak tone. The conspirators operate in this vacant environment, and literally work themselves to death constructing an atomic bomb to use on the city. The nearly-as-anonymous protagonists do not fare much better in their efforts to find and to stop them.Made in the 60's and in color, but staged more like a 40's "B" picture, "Panic in the City" is not exceptional, but it is not half bad.

"Panic in the City" reminds many viewers of "Hawaii 5-0", "Mannix" and other later 1960s quality TV shows. The shots are not highly imaginative, but they are usually well-chosen by director and co-writer Eddie Davis. The script by Davis and Charles E. Savage may be described as serviceable also; but it has the same intelligence as the other shows mentioned above do; and in my view, it is unusually well-cast, is gifted with very good interiors and has a pace that is everywhere satisfying. This is included among my reviews because I consider it to be the first of the apocalyptic thrillers, later much copied, that combines the hallmark of the best of this genre--solid detail and believable work by police/spies etc.--with a setting in a city of people, not an isolated laboratory or rural hideout. The storyline concerns a plot to bring together the parts of an atomic bomb in a US city. The intention is to use it for leverage; and the Russians behind the plot are at least as interested in seeing if they can do the job as in the use; this is the sort of idea one saves for the right occasion. Getting wind of the plot. US agents led by Howard Duff as Dave Pomeroy, working under his boss, Stephen McNally, begin to close in slowly on the perpetrators. The key to the plot turns out to be five keys. One is a scientist who wants to use nuclear energy for peaceful purposes, and is persuaded by the other side to help them assemble the bomb when their first plan fails, fine actor Oscar Beregi. The second is the man pushing the project, Nehemiah Persoff, who is at odds with his boss Gregory Morton. The third is aides to Persoff, such as Anne Jeffreys, Dennis Hopper and others. The fourth is the men who work with Duff, such as his lady, Dr. Linda Cristal, Eddie Firestone and an assortment of competent agents. The last is the size of Los Angeles, which works against the agents' actions at every turn. The plot reaches a point when the bomb is assembled; then there are a dozen twists leading to a thrilling end I will not reveal here. The music by Paul Dunlap is more-than-competent and unobtrusive as well. Alan Stensvold provided lucid cinematography, The art director Paul Sylos gave the film a clean modern look; set decorator Raymond Boltz Jr. and costume designer Charles Arrico did even better, giving the film a realistic and attractive style that almost qualifies as "style". Others in the cat include Charles Barrows, John Hoyt, Steve Franken, Wesley Lau, Paul Pickard, Walter Reed and Cal Currens. This is not a great film; but it is an honest one...and that I suggest is the source of its unusual build and power. Among the cast, Beregi, Morton, Duff and McNally are very good as always. A well-acted and thoughtful adventure film.