The Anderson Tapes (1971)

A thief (Duke Anderson) just released from ten years in jail, takes up with his old girlfriend (Ingrid) in her posh apartment. He makes plans to rob the entire building. What he doesn't ... See full summary »

Director:

Sidney Lumet

Writers:

Lawrence Sanders (novel), Frank Pierson (screenplay)

Stars:

Sean Connery, Dyan Cannon, Martin Balsam

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Sean Connery	...	Anderson
Dyan Cannon	...	Ingrid
Martin Balsam	...	Tommy Haskins
Ralph Meeker	...	Delaney
Alan King	...	Angelo
Christopher Walken	...	The Kid
Val Avery	...	Parelli
Dick Anthony Williams	...	Spencer (as Dick Williams)
Garrett Morris	...	Everson
Stan Gottlieb	...	Pop
Paul Benjamin	...	Jimmy
Anthony Holland	...	Psychologist
Richard B. Shull	...	Werner (as Richard B. Schull)
Conrad Bain	...	Dr. Rubicoff
Margaret Hamilton	...	Miss Kaler

Storyline

A thief (Duke Anderson) just released from ten years in jail, takes up with his old girlfriend (Ingrid) in her posh apartment. He makes plans to rob the entire building. What he doesn't know is that his every move is recorded on audio and video tape, although he is not the subject of any surveillance.

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Plot Keywords:

surveillance | tape | new york city | surveillance camera | city | 

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Taglines:

Every Secret, Every Betrayal, Caught On Tape.

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Genres:

Crime | Drama | Thriller

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Certificate:

GP

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

2 September 1971 (West Germany)

Also Known As:

Le gang Anderson

Filming Locations:

1 East 91st Street, Manhattan, New York City, New York, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Columbia Pictures Corporation, Robert M. Weitman Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

99 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

This is the first movie in which Connery stopped wearing a toupee.

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Goofs

When the Mayflower moving van is leaving the parking lot to head for the rendezvous at the crime scene, several crew members (one of whom is holding a large reflector) are visibly reflected on the side of the van.

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Quotes

Anderson: What's advertising but a legalized con game? And what the hell's marriage? Extortion, prostitution, soliciting with a government stamp on it. And what the hell's your stock market? A fixed horse race. Some business guy steals a bank, he's a big success story. Face in all the magazines. Some other guy steals the magazine and he's busted.

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Connections

Featured in The 77th Annual Academy Awards (2005)

User Reviews

Not Lumet's best film

Veteran director Sidney Lumet has made many above-average films in his time, but 'The Anderson Tapes', a generic heist thriller from the early 1970s, is not one of them. The dialogue and acting (including that of lead Sean Connery) are both poor, and the Quincey Jones score is horrid; the camera work is better but insufficient to compensate for a movie where none of the characters seem wholly real (in a way quite typical of indifferent movies from this era). Another problem is that the film lacks purpose; the tapes of the title seem quite irrelevant, and although the confused ending is in some sense superior to the glossy "perfection" at the conclusion of movies like "Ocean's Eleven", the viewer is still left asking "so what?". Overall, this not an awful film, but it is lacking in much to distinguish it from the very large number of similar movies.