Wizard-8 People who are fans of Samuel Fuller (who was one of the writers) or wanting to see early appearances by actors James Brolin and Jacqueline Bisset might find the prospect of watching "The Cape Town Affair" promising. But it won't take them very long upon watching the movie to start regretting their decision. The big problem with this movie is that it is incredibly boring. It's talk, talk, talk, with pretty much NOTHING of consequence or importance happening in the first two- thirds of the movie. A few things happen in the last third of the movie, but not much, and it ends up being almost as boring as the first two-thirds. Another problem with the movie is that the central character (played by Brolin) is not very likable - you'll be wondering why you are bothering to follow this selfish and cold individual. By the way, if you are wondering about the Cape Town setting, while it does occasionally add a little color in the backdrop, it's otherwise wasted - with almost no rewriting, the events of the movie could be taking place in Los Angeles. This is one movie that's pretty much a complete waste of time.

jjnxn-1 Choppy, poorly directed remake of Pickup on South Street. James Brolin while attractive is bland in the lead never approaching the lowdown grit that Richard Widmark effortlessly gave the character in the original. This was one of Jacqueline Bisset's first roles and her inexperience is evident although at least part of the blame belongs with the director since her next few films, with stronger directors, show a marked improvement over her work here. Unsurprisingly the best performance in the film comes from Claire Trevor as the frowsy Sam but even she doesn't match the peerless performance of Thelma Ritter, considered by many her best work, in the first film. This was Claire's last film for 15 years until she made a delightful return as Sally Field's mother in Kiss Me Goodbye, a much better film than this, and then permanently retired. As for the rest of the film, everybody else gives terrible performances, scenes either just stop or start with a good deal of narrative flow missing and the photography is washed out and overly bright. Not an estimable credit on anybody's resume.

moonspinner55 Remake of Sam Fuller's 1953 noir "Pickup On South Street" takes place, for no discernible reason, in South Africa! Jacqueline Bisset is the clueless courier for a Communist spy ring--carrying secret microfilm in her purse--whose career is derailed after a pick-pocket snatches her loot on the bus. New faces at the time, Bisset and James Brolin look terribly unsure (and unhappy) throughout. Distributed by 20th Century-Fox, the film doesn't look terrible, but is overrun with outdated clichés, inept direction and writing, and a music score from Bob Adams and Joe Kentridge that never sets a proper mood (with a whistled theme that faintly recalls "Baby Elephant Walk" to boot!). Unnecessary, forgettable spy stuff may be useful as a cure for insomniacs. NO STARS from ****

Hitchcoc Silly byplay between a few characters. A master pickpocket. A burned out police detective. A bunch of Commies. A piece of film. Some less than memorable acting. James Brolin, running the gamut of emotions from A to B. A confusing, endless story which continues to beg questions all along the way. There are some relationships that are left for us to figure out. The film is just so dull. I think all this cold war stuff has to at least have a little bit of causality. You can't have a suspense (or spy) movie without knowing what, exactly, the bad guys get out of the key piece of evidence. As usual, lots of people go through lots of wasted motion. Jacqueline Bisset is somewhat interesting, but even her role isn't very clealr.