Dead Heat on a Merry-Go-Round (1966)

A paroled conman co-ordinates the robbery of an L. A. Airport bank with the arrival of the Soviet premier.

Director:

Bernard Girard

Writer:

Bernard Girard

Stars:

James Coburn, Camilla Sparv, Aldo Ray

Won 1 Golden Globe.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
James Coburn	...	Eli Kotch
Camilla Sparv	...	Inger Knudson
Aldo Ray	...	Eddie Hart
Nina Wayne	...	Frieda Schmid
Robert Webber	...	Milo Stewart
Rose Marie	...	Margaret Kirby
Todd Armstrong	...	Alfred Morgan
Marian McCargo	...	Dr. Marion Hague (as Marian Moses)
Michael Strong	...	Paul Feng
Severn Darden	...	Miles Fisher
James Westerfield	...	Jack Balter
Phillip Pine	...	George Logan (as Phillip E. Pine)
Simon Scott	...	William Anderson
Ben Astar	...	General Mailenkoff
Michael St. Angel	...	Captain William Yates

Storyline

Involved crime drama about an intricate plan to rob an airport bank. Watch for the surprise ending and look quickly for a barely-recognizable Harrison Ford in his film debut, playing a bellhop.

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Plot Keywords:

airport | robbery | bank | heist | prison | 

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Taglines:

The slickest swingin'est con man who ever took the world for a ride!

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Genres:

Comedy | Crime | Drama

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Certificate:

TV-PG

Did You Know?

Trivia

The final sequence of the film was cut from the film by the studio. It was a scene of the gang preparing for another heist 5 years later.

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Quotes

Eli Kotch: I was driving all over L.A. today, trying to find "the city." But there's no city here. It's just a... a giant village.

User Reviews

Great Title, But Unmemorable Film

This crime movie was only "fair," not worth owning if you are a collector, but worth checking out if you are a James Coburn fan. The title is a lot better than the story.

This is another of those mid-60s films that was Hollywood-in-transition, meaning it was just a year or so away from abolishing any moral codes. Here, we see casual sex accepted as okay and the bank robbers portrayed as the good guys, even though they are anything but good.

The female lead, Camilla Sparv, was a strange-looking lady who never really made it as a star. One can see why. It's also interesting to hear the language of the period with the police being called "the fuzz," etc.

James Coburn is fun to watch, but the rest of the cast is unmemorable, except that it marked the film debut of Harrison Ford, who plays a messenger boy in one quick scene. Other than that, the film provides few noteworthy memories which is probably one reason why there are so few reviews of this here.

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English Russian

Release Date:

25 December 1966 (Brazil)

Also Known As:

Eli Kotch

Filming Locations:

Lakeside Shopping Center, 301 Pass Ave, Burbank, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$2,000,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Columbia Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

104 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color (Pathécolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1