Zwei dreckige Halunken (1970)

Zwei dreckige Halunken: Directed by Joseph L. Mankiewicz. With Kirk Douglas, Henry Fonda, Hume Cronyn, Warren Oates. A charming but totally ruthless criminal is sent to a remote Arizona prison. He enlists the help of his cellmates in an escape attempt with the promise of sharing his hidden loot.

“Kirk Douglas plays a very amoral and scheming bandit. For a while, this lifestyle pays off until he is ultimately captured and placed in an awful prison in the middle of the desert. At first, this is a real tough stay for Kirk as the warden is a greedy cuss and he tries to abuse Kirk into revealing where he hid $500,000 in stolen loot. But, after the warden is killed, a new guy takes over (Henry Fonda) and he and Douglas develop a certain level of respect for each other–all the while Kirk is planning his escape. As for Fonda and his motivation for befriending Kirk goes, this is all very vague until very late in the film–and I think this made for a better film.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eIn addition to these two terrific actors, there are some wonderful supporting performances–especially by Hume Cronin and John Randolph who seemed an awful lot like a married couple! About the only negatives were a few places where the script seemed ridiculous (such as the escape from the prison–they took their time and it sure looked too easy).u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eI enjoyed this Kirk Douglas film quite a bit and I was torn between giving it a 7 and an 8. My final decision to give it a 7 was because some of the nudity and language seemed rather gratuitous and was inserted less for artistic reasons than to satisfy the new 1960s and 70s morality. There are just a few too many butts and breasts to make it a good bet for most kids–and itu0026#39;s a shame, because otherwise itu0026#39;s a dandy film.”