The Anderson Tapes (1971)

[CommissarJones]

Watched this last night on Talking Pictures TV. The plot in a nutshell is that a career criminal named Anderson (Sean Connery) is released from prison and gets backing for one final job, ripping off an entire New York City apartment building. But what Anderson doesn't know as he goes about organising things is that virtually everyone he deals with is under surveillance by one party or another, so pretty much everything Anderson says is recorded without his knowledge, even though Anderson himself is not the subject of any surveillance.

Quite a few surveillance-themed films were made during the 1970s, but IMV that was a result of the Watergate scandal - this one came before, which is interesting to me. In fact, The Anderson Tapes premiered on 17 June 1971, one year to the day before the infamous break-in at the Watergate complex in Washington.

Anderson has some interesting casting, including a rather early film appearance by Christopher Walken - he looks like he's about 18 years old, but was in his late 20s at the time (born 1943). It also was the final film appearance for Margaret "Wicked Witch of the West" Hamilton. Legendary Borscht Belt comedian Alan King plays a gangster, and Garrett Morris - better known as one of the Not Ready for Prime Time Players in the original incarnation of Saturday Night Live - has a small role as a police officer. According to IMDB, Anderson also was the first time that Connery appeared on-screen without a hairpiece.

All in all, I wouldn't call Anderson a classic, but IMV it's definitely worth viewing for anyone who hasn't seen it already. In addition to the above, it has some nice period shots of the NYC streetscape, including a Howard Johnson restaurant - it's been quite a while since the city had any of those. Plus a score by Quincy Jones.

[XFool]

Yes, I also saw (the end of it!) again on TV recently. An enjoyable film, I originally saw it in the cinema when it was released. Some funny moments as well.

It is noted as a film that came out before Watergate. Some kind of precursor to the 'Urban Paranoia' films of the 1970s, possibly culminating in 'The Conversation', with Gene Hackman.

This paper identifies Haskell Wexler’s ' Medium Cool' as the start of 'Urban Crisis' films: https://www.academia.edu/37169016/The_C ... f_the_City

Another great film, even if he has since confessed to faking the films most enjoyable and memorable line of dialogue. "It's for real, Dexter(?)"

[XFool]

Another great film, even if he has since confessed to faking the films most enjoyable and memorable line of dialogue. "It's for real, Dexter(?)"

Getting confused there: Dexter Fletcher?

I think the iconic line was: "Watch out Haskell(?)! it's for real."

“Look out Haskell, it’s real!”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MydIOnH5ac0