52 Pick-Up (1986)

A secret fling with between a man and his mistress leads to blackmail and murder.

Director:

John Frankenheimer

Writers:

Elmore Leonard (novel), Elmore Leonard (screenplay),

Stars:

Roy Scheider, Ann-Margret, Vanity

1 nomination.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Roy Scheider	...	Harry Mitchell
Ann-Margret	...	Barbara Mitchell
Vanity	...	Doreen
John Glover	...	Alan Raimy
Robert Trebor	...	Leo Franks
Lonny Chapman	...	Jim O'Boyle
Kelly Preston	...	Cini
Doug McClure	...	Mark Arveson
Clarence Williams III	...	Bobby Shy
Alex Henteloff	...	Dan Lowenthal
Michelle Walker	...	Counter Girl
Philip Bartko	...	Test Site Worker
Tom Byron	...	Party Goer
Herschel Savage	...	Party Goer (as Harvey Cowen)
Ron Jeremy	...	Party Goer (as Ron Jeremy Hyatt)

Storyline

Harry Mitchell, an L.A. manufacturer with a fancy car, a nice house, and a wife running for city council, has his life overturned when three hooded blackmailers appear with a video tape of Harry and his young mistress. He's been set up, and they want $100,000. To protect his wife's political ambitions, Harry won't go to the police; instead, he shines them on and then doesn't pay. They up their demands, so he goes on the offensive, tracking them down and trying to turn one against the other. Their sociopathic leader, Alan, responds with violence toward the mistress and menace toward Harry's wife. Will Harry let up and pay off Alan or can he find some other solution?

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Plot Keywords:

murder | blackmail | heroin | sex party | pistol | 

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Taglines:

They shouldn't have blackmailed Harry Mitchell. He made them pay - in blood....

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Genres:

Crime | Mystery | Thriller

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Certificate:

R

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

7 November 1986 (USA)

Also Known As:

52 vive o muere

Filming Locations:

14312 Western Ave, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Cannon Group

Technical Specs

Runtime:

110 min

Sound Mix:

Ultra Stereo

Color:

Color (TVC)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Porn stars Amber Lynn, Sharon Mitchell and Ron Jeremy appear in the film in the party sequence.

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Goofs

The "exploding" Jaguar is slightly different than the one used throughout the film. It has a dent between the door and bonnet, lacks the passenger-side rear-view mirror, and the hard top is missing the glass rear window. Given the value of the car it is forgivable that the "real" one was not blown up.

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Quotes

Harry: [taking pictures of Doreen as she strips] The last one was underexposed.
Doreen: Oh, yeah? And I say wait 'til I get my pants off, you want more exposure.
Harry: That's pretty good.
Doreen: Or, as the dude says, "What size is your aperture?"
Harry: A lot of laughs in your business, huh?

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Connections

Featured in Los Angeles Plays Itself (2003)

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Soundtracks

"Happy Days Are Here Again"
Words by Jack Yellen
Music by Milton Ager (as Milton Ayer)
Published by CBS Robins Catalogue
Performed by The Gary Tole Orchestra

User Reviews

Polished Leonard

I've only read one of Leonard's crime novels and it didn't impress me much with its style. The guy writes as if he's producing a technical manual with people instead of parts. But the plot was interesting and dense, as it is in this movie. Roy Scheider never turns in a bad performance, and here his face is beginning to look comely and battered with time. He's also from Orange, New Jersey, which is a good place to start from. Scheider is Harry, a morally flawed businessman with a mechanical bent. Ann-Margaret is breathtakingly good looking, and her performance is exceptional. The same could be said of Vanity, but her part is rather small. The villains are all superb. John Glover is a delight to watch on screen -- and to listen to -- with that slimy smile and midlands Maryland accent that descends into working-class vulgar when the situation calls for it. He and Scheider played well off one another in "The Last Embrace." Clarence Williams is a sort of doggedly cunning and brutal muscleman, done quietly but effectively. There's something oddly amusing about his villainy. After Scheider and Ann-Margaret have clobbered him following a botched murder attempt (a little hard to believe), he sits in a chair having his picture taken while Scheider implants in his mind a few seeds of doubt about the probity of his partners in crime. An expression of dumb comprehension creeps slowly over his face and his eyes squint over his bleeding nose. Robert Trebor (terrific name, by the way, a palindrome) gives a nearly perfect imitation of a guy who is a sweating, shaking, desperately twitching nervous wreck, but still with his eye pinned on profit and, mostly, survival. What a trio of villains. The plot is, as I say, dense, but not difficult to follow. The story is in a style that Northrop Frye called low mimetic: Scheider is no hero, and in fact no better than the rest of us. That's what makes his outwitting of the trio so interesting. Frankenheimer's direction is fine, no flashy shots or dazzling fireworks. The story pulls a viewer along on its own terms. Not a masterpiece, but a cleverly done genre piece, it's worth seeing. Can't imagine why people flock to schlock while a movie like this goes by mostly unnoticed.