The Split (1968)

Director:

Gordon Flemyng

Writers:

Donald E. Westlake (novel)
Robert Sabaroff (screenplay)

Release Date:

4 November 1968 (USA)

Genre:

Crime | Drama

Tagline:

"Crime is our business."

Plot:

Thieves fall out when over a half million dollars goes missing after the daring and carefully planned...

Plot Keywords:

Football Game | Coliseum | Los Angeles | Detective | Hostage

Cast

Jim Brown	...	McClain
Diahann Carroll	...	Ellen 'Ellie' Kennedy
Ernest Borgnine	...	Bert Clinger
Julie Harris	...	Gladys
Gene Hackman	...	Detective Lt. Walter Brill
Jack Klugman	...	Harry Kifka
Warren Oates	...	Marty Gough
James Whitmore	...	Herb Sutro
Donald Sutherland	...	Dave Negli
Joyce Jameson	...	Jenifer
Harry Hickox	...	Detective
Jackie Joseph	...	Jackie
Warren Vanders	...	Mason

Runtime:

USA:91 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Metrocolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

West Germany:18 | Finland:K-16 | Norway:16 | Sweden:15 | USA:Approved | USA:R

Company:

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)

Trivia:

This film was the very first theatrical release to receive an R rating from the then-new MPAA's film rating system.

Quotes:

Dave Negli: Listen, Marty, the last man I killed I did it for $5000. For $85,000 I'd kill you 17 times.

Movie Connections:

Featured in Jim Brown: All American (2002) (TV)

Soundtrack:

A Good Woman's Love

Tight, sharp, unfairly obscure little heist flick

The cast list of this film reads like a who's who of 60's and 70's Hollywood character actors. While they don't all get a chance to really shine here, their familiar faces and inherent skills help move this heist flick along nicely. Brown is a ne'er do well thief who returns to Los Angeles just in time to help Harris mastermind the robbery of the L.A. Coliseum during a Rams play-off game. He enlists the aid of four disparate men (Borgnine, Klugman, Oates and Sutherland) who form a tenuous alliance, working as a unit just long enough to get the job done and split the $500,000 take. The heist itself is suspensefully handled and skillfully done, but the primary thrust of the story kicks in when it's time to divvy out the loot, hence the title of the film (brought home even more in the title of the source novel.) Brown, though stiff at times, is such a physical presence (and an amiable one) that he anchors the story well, faltering only when it's called upon him to enact scenes of grief. Harris is tough-as-nails as a hard, (big!) red-haired schemer. All of the men in the gang give their customary polished and distinct performances. Borgnine is, of course, the most blustery. Klugman (who would return to this venue in "Two Minute Warning") plays the nervous one. Oates gives the most texture to his role as a wary safe-cracker. Sutherland is a class-act hit man with the necessary cool and effortlessness. Carroll is very attractive in a thankless role of decoration/plot device. Hackman turns up late as the police detective assigned to a murder related to the heist and gives a decent performance. Trivia buffs will note that one of the clerks (Joseph) provided the voice of Melody in the 70's cartoon series "Josie and the Pussycats". Nearly all of the roles in the film are filled with people who worked extensively as guest stars in major television series. The film is creatively directed, contains bouncy Quincy Jones music and clips along at a very tight pace except for a mouthwash commercial-esquire romantic montage between Brown and Carroll. Some of the plot elements are pretty preposterous (such as Brown's initial sequences of "auditioning" the heist participants), but it makes for interesting viewing. The movie serves as a fun time capsule of the era's fashions and procedures (check out the hair on Borgnine's secretary!) The story is never completely predictable and is at home with other similar (if more polished and better known) films from that time such as "Bullit" and "The Thomas Crown Affair".