THE ANDERSON TAPES [1971 / 2020] [Blu-ray] [UK Release]
Someone is listening . . . someone is watching the Crime Of The Century as it unreels!
When Robert 'Duke' Anderson [Sean Connery] is released from prison after serving ten years for taking the rap for a Mafia family, he cashes in a debt of honour and gets the funds he needs to bankroll an ambitious robbery. Planning to ransack an exclusive East Side New York Apartment building, he rounds up a gang of top-flight thieves, and proceeds to carry out his caper unaware that he is being taped.
FILM FACT: ‘THE ANDERSON TAPES’ was the first major film to focus on the pervasiveness of electronic surveillance, from security cameras in public places to hidden recording devices. This was the first major motion picture for a very young Christopher Walken, as well as the last on-screen film appearance by Margaret Hamilton. Sean Connery, Martin Balsam, and director Sidney Lumet were to work together again on ‘Murder on the Orient Express.’ Sean Connery had previously worked with the director on ‘The Hill,’ and they would reunite the following year with the film ‘The Offence,’ and again many years later for ‘Family Business.’ Martin Balsam and Sidney Lumet had worked together previously on ‘12 Angry Men.’ Two characters from the novel on which the film was based were merged for the film: “Ingrid Macht” and “Agnes Everleigh” became "Ingrid Everleigh.” Sean Connery's performance as the likeable criminal Robert 'Duke' Anderson was instrumental in his breakout from being typecast as James Bond. It also restored him to the ranks of top male actors in the United States. ‘THE ANDERSON TAPES’ was filmed on location in New York City on Fifth Avenue at the Convent of the Sacred Heart a luxury apartment building, Rikers Island Prison, the Port Authority Bus Terminal, Luxor Health Club and on the Lower East Side. Interiors scenes were filmed at Hi Brown Studio and ABC-Pathé Studio, both in New York City. The production was on a tight budget, and filming was completed from mid-August to the 16th October, 1970. The film ‘THE ANDERSON TAPES’ was the first for producer Robert M. Weitman as an independent for the ending of the film, in which Sean Connery as Robert 'Duke' Anderson escapes to be pursued by police helicopters, fearing that it would hurt sales to television, which generally required that bad deeds do not go unpunished.
Cast: Sean Connery, Dyan Cannon, Martin Balsam, Ralph Meeker, Alan King, Christopher Walken, Val Avery, Dick Anthony Williams, Garrett Morris, Stan Gottlieb, Paul Benjamin, Anthony Holland, Richard B. Schull, Conrad Bain, Margaret Hamilton, Judith Lowry, Max Showalter, Janet Ward, Scott Jacoby, Norman Rose, Meg Myles, John Call, Raoul Kraushaar, John Braden, Paula Trueman, Michael Miller, Michael Prince (voice), Frank Macetta, Jack Doroshow, Michael Clary, Hildy Brooks, Robert Dagny, Bradford English, Reid Cruickshanks, Tom Signorelli, Carmine Caridi, Michael Fairman, George Patelis, William J. Daprato, Sam Coppola, Mary Boylan (uncredited), Bruce Brown (uncredited), James Forster (uncredited), Charles Frank (uncredited), Ron Gilbert (uncredited), Al Kirk (uncredited), Helen Martin (uncredited) and Tom Nobles (uncredited)
Director: Sidney Lumet
Producers: George Justin and Robert M. Weitman
Screenplay: Lawrence Sanders (novel) and Frank R. Pierson (screenplay)
Composer: Quincy Jones
Costume Design: Gene Coffin
Cinematography: Arthur J. Ornitz (Director of Photography)
Image Resolution: 1080p (Anamorphic)
Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1
Audio: English: 1.0 LPCM Mono Audio
English: 2.0 Dolby Digital Stereo Audio
Subtitles: English
Running Time: 98 minutes
Region: All Regions
Number of discs: 1
Studio: Columbia Pictures / Powerhouse Films / INDICATOR
Andrew’s Blu-ray Review: ‘THE ANDERSON TAPES’ [1971] was the first film that commented so boldly on the pervasiveness of electronic surveillance in our lives. Exactly one year after its release, a break-in at the Watergate Hotel would reveal just how prophetic it really was.
‘THE ANDERSON TAPES’ is a heist movie, there’s no doubt about that. It depicts the typical thrills and shenanigans of the genre, beginning when a charismatic ringleader assembles a colourful crew of criminal masterminds with varied skills, to pull off one last job. It is, to say the least, a good time at the movies. When it was released in 1971, it did quite well at the box office, grossing $5 million. But it received mixed reviews, and if it is remembered today at all, it is for presenting the world with the first mainstream film performance of the actor Christopher Walken as The Kid.
The film follows a thief named Robert 'Duke' Anderson [Sean Connery], who gets out of prison only to plan an elaborate heist of the rich tenants of the Madison Avenue building where his former girlfriend Ingrid Ingrid Everly [Dyan Cannon] is living. Most of the film follows the conventions of the heist genre. It starts with Robert 'Duke' Anderson getting out of prison and gathering his crew of criminal professionals — including Martin Balsam as Tommy Haskins an effeminate fence, Dick Anthony Williams as Edward Spencer the African-American driver. It then moves into an extended heist sequence that draws on cinema’s long history of elaborate heist sequences.
The format and stylistic approach is a formal device with thematic suggestions; it does not affect the plot aside from the brief moment I mentioned above. Quincy Jones’s electronic score significantly helps produce this atmosphere as it stands in for the electronic instruments of surveillance, constantly reminding us of their presence even when they’re not in the scene. This approach shows that even in 1971, surveillance was becoming a concern for Americans, and that it wasn’t uncommon for people, both criminal and civilian, to be constantly watched and recorded. And the final moments are brilliantly highlighted.
Thus, ‘THE ANDERSON TAPES’ is mainly an effective thriller that of course showcases actor Sean Connery’s incomparable charisma and is a classic Sidney Lumet movie, shot in his beloved New York and with an almost documentary style that heightens the sense of being constantly watched via a camera lens. ‘THE ANDERSON TAPES’ is one of the films that are frequently referred to as one of his favourites. Sean Connery does a good job and despite playing a character whose morals are ambiguous, you begin to root for him more as the story progresses.
Once again, Martin Balsam steals the movie for me as art dealer Tommy Haskins; a man so camp that he would make Mr Humphries blush and I loved his character performance as the flamboyant art house owner, through to the compliant and resourceful thief, culminating in… well, you’ll have watch and find out. Martin Balsam had me in hysterics with just one look on his face when a certain apartment door opens.
Director Sidney Lumet keeps it as a conventional thriller and shoots for the heist to resolve in an exciting climax. Though it’s watchable and somewhat diverting, it never seems to be going anywhere: the comedy is mostly lame, the tension never builds and its anti-bugging message never really meshes with all the ironies brought out about the differences between illegal and legal surveillance.
‘THE ANDERSON TAPES’ is an enjoyable 1970’s piece of work that has more than enough to entertain you. It has a clever structure and makes some sound points on surveillance which probably make it more relevant today than it even was then. Sean Connery is very good in the lead role and there is some excellent support, especially from Christopher Walken who is strikingly charismatic in one of his first roles. ‘THE ANDERSON TAPES’ is still a very fine caper thriller.
Overall, ‘THE ANDERSON TAPES’ is a tense and unique crime thriller that, although it is a film that is very 1970’s entertaining, if slightly a bit outdated in terms of technology. I’m sure it will be remade someday, there’s a lot of potential, however I doubt it will ever come close to the original.
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Blu-ray Image Quality – Columbia Pictures and Powerhouse Films presents the film ‘THE ANDERSON TAPES’ a very excellent 1080p image and also shown in the standard 1.85:1 aspect ratio. ‘THE ANDERSON TAPES’ is a film that, like a good many studio works of the time, was shot and lit very much with visual clarity in mind, with faces rarely falling into shadow and even windowless interiors often bathed in light. The Blu-ray gives really excellent visual clarity, with faces rarely falling into shadow and even windowless interiors often bathed in light which is consistently excellent, particularly in its attractive colour palette that's vibrant when it needs to be and the spot-on contrast balance, which nails the black levels without sucking in any of the surrounding details and never softens on the rare occasions where the light levels drop. The sharpness and detail are also strikingly crisp and on a couple of close-ups of Sean Connery's face you can see almost every pockmark and hair. As you'd expect, the image is very clean and free of any damage, and a subtle film grain is visible.
Blu-ray Audio Quality – Columbia Pictures and Powerhouse brings us the film ‘THE ANDERSON TAPES’ with one standard 1.0 LPCM Mono Audio experience, which is in fine shape, clear enough indeed to make those electronic notes of the composed film score by Quincy Jones that is really and totally annoying and does not help the atmosphere of the film and especially if you have sensitive hearing, and probably you may have to turn the sound down a couple of notches. But rucially, the dialogue and sound effects are always cleanly well presented, and there are no traces of damage or wear in the quieter scenes.
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Blu-ray Special Features and Extras:
Audio Commentary with American Film Critic and Film Historian Glenn Kenny: Here we are introduced by Glenn Kenny that was recorded in 2017 and is here to give an in-depth look at the film ‘THE ANDERSON TAPES’ who informs us that he is main job is being a film critic and film historian and he informs us that this 1971 thriller is directed by Sidney Lumet and is from a script by Frank R. Pearson, and the novel is by Lawrence Sanders, and the film is all about surveillance and recording conversations, that is established from the start of the film, especially with the inmate prisoners and Glenn Kenny points out Sean Connery without his toupee, and the scene we view is a red herring, which is basically a prisoner group therapy session. Glenn Kenny comments that in this scene it is full of character actors, who if you are of a certain age, hey, who is that guy, or what the hell are these actors, and also points a young Christopher Walken, and this film did not at the time get his career up and running, until about six or seven years after the release of this film. Glenn Kenny talks about the distinct typeface lettering for the credit titles and he believes it was called DATA 70, which was a Letraset variant of the Westminster typeface, which was developed in the late 1960’s, that was to emphasise high-tech technology stuff and the lettering was first used in the 1968 film ‘Sebastian’ which was a British spy film directed by David Greene and produced by Michael Powell, and starred Dirk Bogarde and Susannah York and the composed music was by Jerry Goldsmith. Glenn Kenny talks about the composer for the film, which of course was Quincy Jones, and feels the first part of the film’s composed music is very annoying and irritating, which I totally agree and is not very ideal composed film soundtrack and he reminds us that Quincy Jones is originally known for being a famous jazz band leader and also produced the now famous Michael Jackson “Thriller” album. Glenn Kenny feels the director Sidney Lumet’s film scenario theme is that the machines are winning, but the people running the machines at the end of the film so not win, which of course you will have to watch the film to find out the final outcome. We find out that this was the second film that Sidney Lumet made with Sean Connery and was the second of five films that Sean Connery had made with director Sidney Lumet. We also find out that the character Dyan Cannon plays in the novel was a high class hooker and that Robert 'Duke' Anderson had some sort of relationship with her years earlier and indulged in sexual sadism, but of course because of when the film was made in the 1970’s it could not even be mentioned or hinted of this sexual proclivity, as the film would have had to of had an R certificate, as then the audience would have been very limited and not be a box office success. Glenn Kenny gets to talks about the actor Martin Balsam who plays the New York gay character who is a fence and his character knew Robert 'Duke' Anderson a long time ago, but we are not informed how these two people knew each other in the past, whereas the actor Martin Balsam usually plays more straight characters in his previous films, whereas in this film plays a more flamboyant character, which I suppose was quite a brave part to play for Martin Balsam in the 1970’s especially in America and his character is not at all interested in any kind of violence or putting himself at risk. Glenn Kenny talks in-depth about the actor Sean Connery who was a very physical actor, who felt trapped in the James Bond franchise and wanted to direct and did once with a play that was a total disaster, so carried on with appearing in lots of different films so that he would not be typecast 100%. When we get to the scene with the steam baths, and we are informed that it was the Luxor Baths Hotel, 121 West 46th Street (East of Broadway) in New York City, and was one of the only modern hotel that provides FREE for its guests, the use of its Russian-Turkish Baths, Pine Steam Room and Swimming Pool which does not exist anymore, and the character actor that arrives in a white suit that was called “white socks” and was the actor Val Avery, and Glenn Kenny does not quite know what to make of this character. Because of his dry delivery of the dialogue, and especially as his character is devoid of any kind of humour, and of course eventually gets his due comeuppance near the end of the film, which you will of course have to view to find out wat happens to this nasty piece of shit. When we get to see the scene with Dyan Cannon in her apartment, where the actor Richard B. Schull, who usually plays comedy parts, and has been listening to the audio tape of Sean Connery and Dyan Cannon in bed together, which of course Sean Connery did not know this was done to him, and at that point Sean Connery walks into the room and we get to see the real side of Dyan Cannons character, as a kept woman by the actor Richard B. Schull, and now Sean Connery has now realised he has been duped by Dyan Cannon’s character and how her pimp Richard B. Schull has now taken over control of the situation and made Sean Connery’s character feel well and truly shafted and to also made to look a fool, especially again not knowing his conversation was secretly recorded. Glenn Kenny now reads out some of the critic’s review of the film ‘THE ANDERSON TAPES’ and what they really felt about the film, and how the film got mixed reviews, so good and some not so good, but they did give Sean Connery and Alan King’s acting performance and got quite good reviews. Glenn Kenny starts talking about the career of the director Sidney Lumet, who had a very up and down career, and is not looked as a cult director, whose films have had many mixed reviews. But Glenn Kenny reckons the film ‘THE ANDERSON TAPES’ would be a great double feature with the film ‘Dog Day Afternoon.’ Which of course starred Al Pacino, and that film came out four or five years after ‘THE ANDERSON TAPES.’ Glenn Kenny also talks about the ending of the film, where some of the criminals do not survive in a very nasty way, but some of the criminals do survive, also the ending of the film was changed because of a morale code by the executives, and according to the story in the Variety publication, screenwriter Frank R. Pearson says he doesn’t know what happened since he was of the picture before the change was made, and it was switched to suit the stringent TV morale code that was very popular at the time, and Frank R. Pearson said the escape ending was the one favoured by the people at the studio, instead of letting all of them getting away in the station wagon, which was driven by Christopher Walken, who decided to look out for himself, but of course gest his timely comeuppance. Also the business of finding the Sean Connery who had been seriously shot, has Glenn Kenny making the statement, that no sequel for ‘THE ANDERSON TAPES’ was never forthcoming. At that point the Glenn Kenny audio commentary comes to an end and we leave the last comment to Glenn Kenny, where he says, “I’m Glenn Kenny, it has been a real pleasure, speaking to you about this film, and I hope you found my observations pertinent and relevant today, and I want thank INDICATOR for allowing me to do so and goodbye and good luck. So to sum up Glenn Kenny audio commentary and it is really excellent and a very intelligent audio commentary and definitely gets a five star rating from me and is definitely well worth listing to, as you will never get bored.
Special Feature: ‘THE ANDERSON TAPES’ Super 8 version [1975] [480i] [1.37:1] [16:06] This is the original truncated home cinema presentation for the film ‘THE ANDERSON TAPES.’ The compression of the film is just over 16 minutes and makes nonsense of the surveillance subtext, and the whole thing scurries on to the robbery in less than four minutes and then rips the guts out of that as well. This plays in part like an overlong trailer, albeit one that includes a sizeable chunk of the final part of the film. As you would expect, the image is presented in the 1.37:1 aspect ratio and is of a quality that will make fans of pristine restorations shudder and you get a very annoying thick green horizontal line appear now again on the left hand side of the screen.
Theatrical Trailer [1971] [1080p] [1.85:1] [3:02] This if the original Theatrical Trailer for the film ‘THE ANDERSON TAPES.’ This trailer really captures the essence of the film, but not without dancing dangerously giving us any spoilers.
Special Feature: Image Gallery: Here we get to view 56 colour and black-and-white Original Promotional Material related to the film ‘THE ANDERSON TAPES.’ To view all the images, you have to use the next function < > on your remote control to navigate the gallery images. Press MENU or TOP MENU to exit the Image Gallery.
Finally, ‘THE ANDERSON TAPES’ is notable for a striking central performance from Sean Connery, which is often considered the catalyst for him securing the James Bond role. There is really good and excellent direction from Sidney Lumet, clever casting and the first appearance on screen of a certain Christopher Walken. It’s an oddity in a sense as Robert 'Duke' Anderson’s every move is captured on surveillance by a string of government agents. ‘THE ANDERSON TAPES’ is an impressive heist on the edge of your seat film featuring some familiar faces and several great cameos as a bonus. Over the course of his career, director Sidney Lumet made an almost disproportionate number of genuinely great films, and while ‘THE ANDERSON TAPES’ is not up there with the best of them, it's still a fascinating and enjoyable work whose stuck-in-time elements do not seriously detract from its more forward-looking aspects and the workmanlike professionalism of its execution. Highly Recommended!
Andrew C. Miller – Your Ultimate No.1 Film Aficionado
Le Cinema Paradiso
United Kingdom
