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6 out of 7 people found the following comment useful :-
This guy is no Saint, 18 January 2005
7/10
Author: sol from Brooklyn NY USA

(Some Spoilers) Priviat eye-like movie with retired newspaper columnist and now unpublished book author Raymond St. Ives, Charles Bronson, getting hired to be the go between in a switch of $100,000.00 for a number of personal ledgers of eccentric multi-millionaire and criminal master-mind Abner Procane, John Houseman. At first the job that the down and out St. Ives has seems to be a lead pipe cinch. The $10,000.00 that he'll get for it will come in handy for the compulsive gambling habit that he has and he thinks nothing of it.

Going to an all night laundromat in L.A to pick up the ledgers and hand over the cash for them St. Ives finds the person that he's supposed to do the switch with stone cold dead,Jack Boykins ,Jerrid Brutsche, is found spinning in a washer-dryer with his neck broker. What was to be a simple delivery and exchange for St. Ives turns out to be a string of murders. All that leads to a $4,000,000.00 pay-off, for a number of pages from Procane's ledgers that has information of his dealing with the president of International Electric George McDuff, Norman Palmer. McDuff is involved in setting up an under the table deal with a member of the Saudie royal family that would net him at least a one hundred million dollar contract.

Classy and well acted "St.Ives" has the beautiful Jackie Bisset, Janet Whistler, as the femme fatal in this film-noir drama set in 1976 L.A. John Houseman seems to be really enjoying the role that he has as criminal master mind Abner Procane who prides himself as never committing any act of violence in his long and successful crime career. The non violent Procane only in uses his smarts and soring intellect to get where he's gotten and not any rough stuff. As if he were playing a number of games of championship chess all which was so accurately recorded by him in the stolen ledgers.

Jackie Bissett is as gorgeous as ever as Porcane's aid, or partner in crime, Janet Whistler who turns out to be playing both sides of the law to get just what she wants. Maximillian Schell pops up in the movie every now and then as Porcane's personal psychiatrist, Dr. John Constable, who has more on his mind that the fantasies and fears of his patient.

The movie has a movie within a movie scene when we see the switch between the valuable information in Procane's ledger between go-between's of the Saudie Sheik and McDuff that leads to a bloody shoot-out outside the drive-in movie where the switch was made. Charles Bronson's St. Ives as usual overcomes the odds to get to the bottom of the case that he's on that for one of those involved ends up at the bottom of Abner Procane's giant swimming pool.

Bronson is pushed around and beaten up a number of times in the film but like in all of his movies he comes out on top in the end, especially with Miss. Bisset. The movie at the drive-in seemed to have a film that had an hour and a half long cattle stampede. This made me wonder if the film-makers of "St.Ives" got that idea from the great bad-movie director Ed Wood and copied it off from the legendary buffalo stampede of the Ed Wood directed film "Glen or Glenda".

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4 out of 4 people found the following comment useful :-
Procane's Incriminating Diary, 1 December 2006
8/10
Author: bkoganbing from Buffalo, New York

Reading some of the reviews here, I can see that a lot of folks aren't happy with Charles Bronson's interpretation of Ross Thomas's hero, Raymond St. Ives. Having not read any of the books I can't comment there. I'm happy enough with Charles Bronson in the part having no novel to measure it against.

I'm also very happy with the very excellent cast of supporting players that Bronson and J. Lee Thompson put together for St. Ives. There what really makes this film work for me.

Picture if Dr. Reifenschneider or Casper Guttman had kept a diary of all the criminal enterprises they had been involved with. That's what master criminal John Houseman as Abner Procane has done. But somebody's stolen it and wants some big bucks to get it back.

Enter Charles Bronson as Ray St. Ives, former crime reporter now trying to work on a novel. He knows the Los Angeles underworld and portals of entry therein like no one else, so Houseman hires him as a go between.

Bronson's 'between' all right, between a whole lot of people with agendas at cross purposes. In this stellar cast you'll find Jacqueline Bisset as the Charley's Angel like security for Houseman, Maxmilian Schell as Houseman's psychiatrist, Harris Yulin and Harry Guardino as a pair of on the make detectives, Dana Elcar as their superior, and Elisha Cook as the hotel clerk where Bronson stays.

Bronson's got his work cut out for him in this one. Figure he's the good guy, he's got some real problems telling just who the villains are.

Funniest scene, Bronson in his favorite bar/lunch counter place feeding Val Bisoglio and pumping him for information as Dick O'Neil cuts the corned beef. This might have been what got Bisoglio to thinking about owning a more upscale place because his best known role was coming shortly, as Danny who owned the place Jack Klugman and the cast of Quincy loved to kick back in.

Obviously purists of Ross Thomas's work have problems with St. Ives, but fans of Charles Bronson most definitely won't.

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5 out of 6 people found the following comment useful :-
This film is really COOL., 1 July 2003
10/10
Author: Andrew Eastenegger (andrewwoolgar17@hotmail.com) from United Kingdom

Now Bronson here does a fantastic struggling writer who happens to get involved in a big crisis. St Ives is the name and he used to be a cop and every where he goes a body goes down. So he gets taken away by the cops. So Bronson knows he keeps getting set up or it's just he's bad luck. Even seeing Freddy Krueger trying to take on Bronson, Why did he do that. Only made him mad. Brilliant ending worth 10 stars. Hope they bring the DVD out really soon, with some features.

BRILLIANT

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3 out of 3 people found the following comment useful :-
Thompson and Bronson team up, are hurt by weak script, 14 June 2006
5/10
Author: paul_johnr from New York

*** This comment may contain spoilers ***

My first experience with the films of director J. Lee Thompson and Charles Bronson came during the mid-90s when I watched a heavily-cut version of '10 to Midnight' on basic cable. Since then, I have viewed these several films in almost reverse order, eventually jumping back to 'St. Ives,' their first pairing in 1976.

'St. Ives,' while being the first Thompson/Bronson film, was also one of the last major studio productions involving these two men. Eventually, they were turning out cheap but effective potboilers for the Cannon Group, including '10 to Midnight' and 'Murphy's Law.' And this is probably why 'St. Ives' can produce unfair expectations; while on a fairly large budget, the film is just one of many high-crime thrillers that were released in its day and sells itself as little more than that.

Bronson stars as Raymond St. Ives, a former Los Angeles crime reporter who is lackadaisically trying to earn his way as a novelist. Having recently divorced his wife and taken up residence at a cheap hotel, St. Ives is under demand to pay $1,000 a month in alimony. Raymond has a thirst for high living and gambles non-stop, habits that have left him short of cash; to pay the bills, he takes advice from his lawyer Myron (Michael Lerner) to act as a go-between for millionaire Abner Procane (John Houseman) and his assistant Janet Whistler (Jacqueline Bisset), who need to exchange ransom money for stolen journals that contain unsavory business dealings. While trying to complete the transaction, St. Ives stumbles upon one dead body after another and requires the help of his police lieutenant friend Charlie Blunt (Dana Elcar) to bail him out each time. Intrigued as a former journalist and in need of 'writing material,' St. Ives stays employed to Procane while trying to account for the murders.

While the cast of 'St. Ives' acquits itself under Thompson's straightforward direction, the film suffers from an erratic plot line and a script by Barry Beckerman that loses energy as it progresses. The first half of 'St. Ives' is quite engaging, as it tracks Raymond's activities as a go-between and his investigations of Procane. But out of nowhere, St. Ives decides to become a member of Procane's illegal operations while hoping to uncover the truth. The whodunit theme becomes one of mini-espionage as a result, with Bronson looking far too passive. By the film's conclusion, Bronson seems almost a marginal character, no longer the main person of focus. Barry Beckerman's script (based upon a novel by Ross Thomas) also has a comic tone so predominant that it's nearly impossible for any true conflict to develop. The film gathers no momentum and becomes pedestrian.

A large part of why 'St. Ives' fails in its second half is the growing presence of Jacqueline Bisset, who was terribly miscast as Janet. Bisset's role as the henchwoman requires a character actress who mixes cold-heartedness with just enough good looks to attract Raymond. Whether it's because Bisset looks taller than everyone else, has a pleasant voice, or is just plain gorgeous, she has such a wonderfully feminine presence that you could never really buy into the idea of Janet killing people. To make matters worse, Bisset is so dominant as an actress that she steals our attention while not having very much to do. John Houseman is very balanced as Procane, but supporting roles by Maximilian Schell as Dr. Constable and Dana Elcar (who never removes his hat) as Charlie Blunt are flat and undemanding.

With regards to technical work and production vales, 'St. Ives' eclipses all of the later Thompson/Bronson films that lasted until 'Kinjite: Forbidden Subjects' in 1989. But for all of the excellent cinematography by Lucien Ballard and wonderfully-styled music by Lalo Schifrin, there are laughable moments such as a dead body whose eyes move and a drive-in movie screen that repeats the same footage at least three times. The few 'action' scenes involving Bronson aren't necessary and do little to generate tension. The concluding shootout is also disorienting, a bungle to follow.

While 'St. Ives' is not a bad film, it is hopelessly mediocre. Still, fans of Bronson and Jacqueline Bisset should find portions of the film enjoyable. At best, it is a charming time-killer that deserves an occasional broadcast on television. Its DVD is available from Warner Home Video and nicely presented in widescreen with Dolby enhancement of the original mono track; French 'dubbing' and three-language subtitles are provided. This disc includes a brief featurette on the making of 'St. Ives,' with the rare occurrence of Bronson discussing his craft. The original theatrical trailer is also supplied.

** out of 4

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3 out of 3 people found the following comment useful :-
My brief review of the film, 16 November 2005
Author: sol- from Perth, Australia

An interesting visual side, with some well composed shots by J. Lee Thompson and expert cinematographer Lucien Ballard, is by far the best part of the film, and it is almost enough to atone for a rather lame screenplay. The story is at times difficult to follow, but it is not very original or out of the ordinary either, so there is not all that much reason to care. This is one of those films that you watch more so for a good amount of action and thrills. It just does not have the characters and plot that a brilliant film of its type would have. It is not helped out by poor music choices either, nor by wasting veteran film noir actor Elisha Cook Jr. in an insignificant supporting role. Still, it is okay viewing overall. It seems a little silly how Bronson runs into trouble everywhere, but that is the way that the plot of the film is made up, so be it. At least it is not annoying to view, and it is at times reasonably amusing.

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4 out of 5 people found the following comment useful :-
Nice change of pace, great fun for any true Bronson-fan!, 14 June 2005
8/10
Author: Renaldo Matlin from Oslo, Norway

I've been a big Bronson-fan for as long as I can remember, and I saw "St. Ives" on TV some years back and was always left with the impression that it was sorta dull, all though offering a nice change of pace for old Charlie. Now out on DVD I still had to order it though, as I pride myself on having *every* Bronson-film available in my collection. I am really happy to say that watching it again was a really wonderful surprise! I'll blame my stupid youth for not appreciating this movie as much back in my late teens because "St. Ives" isn't dull. Sure, it doesn't include all the normal action scenes one has come to expect from a Bronson picture, but it includes just about everything else lacking in his later action movies: great wit, humor, style and unexpected plot-twists and turns right up until the very end! To top it all off it is one of the best scored Bronson-films, with a wonderful soundtrack by Lalo Schifrin. Oh and just so you know; despite the low amount of action scenes, the body count DOES get alarmingly high before the end credits.

It also has a truly excellent cast supporting Bronson. To mention a few: Academy Award winning veteran John Houseman, one of the sexiest stars of the 1970's Jacqueline Bisset, Dana Elcar (Pete Thornton in "MacGyver"), Academy Award winner Maximilian Schell, the lovable Elisha Cook Jr, Michael Lerner, Dick O'Neill (Sharon Gless' memorable dad Charlie in "Cagney & Lacey"), Daniel J. Travanti (the star of "Hill St. Blues") and my favorite supports, the wonderful character actors Harry Guardino and Harris Yulin as police detectives. On top of this you get young versions of Robert Englund and Jeff Goldblum as hoods fighting it out with Charlie!

I also found myself laughing more than I normally do watching Bronson-movies, as "St. Ives" has several funny moments. My favorite one probably being the dinner/confrontation scene with Val Bisoglio.

If you are a *true* Bronson-fan you'll really enjoy old Charlie in this one!

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2 out of 2 people found the following comment useful :-
Money talks., 29 December 2007
7/10
Author: lost-in-limbo from the Mad Hatter's tea party.

Ex-crime journalist Raymond St Ives is struggling for doe, due to his gambling addiction and his slow progress of his unfinished novel. His offered a job as a "go-between" for the strange, old wealthy Abner Procane. He'll be payed 10,000 dollars for the job, to hand over cash for the exchange of Procane's stolen ledgers. However since he takes the job, nothing seems quite right and this leaves St Ives trying to put together what happened at the bungle exchange.

Director J. Lee Thompson along with actor Charles Bronson ( the first exercise to kick start their long-listed collaborations together) churn out a acceptable time-filler in the shape of the luxuriously smooth and constantly busy comic-crime caper "St Ives". Underlining the atmospherically exotic style is Thompson's sophisticatedly tidy direction, along with Lucien Ballard's handsomely crisp cinematography and Lalo Schifrin's high-strung score of sizzling jazz arrangement. The screenplay by Barry Beckerman is sleek, but overly knotty and perplexing in its deliberate developments of a devious layout. Still it stays conventional to the scheming and shady connections lurking around nearly every corner, and this generally engages. Sometimes not deliberately so, like often mentioned 'drive-in' sequence. The offbeat script can loose shape (even though it manages some quite cheeky dialogues), and begin to slumber off in the pulpy latter end of the film. The action is quite little, but pacey with some well performed and animatedly stylised stunts. The production managed to get a hold off a sensational cast. Charles Bronson in the lead as St Ives eases into the performance nicely. Jacqueline Bisset adds a sumptuously classy touch. John Houseman is very fun, and Dana Elcar gets some memorable scenes. Maximilian Schell hones in one hammy entrée turn, and Harry Guardino and Harris Yulin likewise are amusing. Also look out for some diverting performances from up-and-coming Robert Englund and Jeff Goldblum as two petty crooks. Michael Lerner and Elisha Cook Jr show up in minor roles too.

An elegantly charming enterprise with an excellent Bronson performance and great support.

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2 out of 2 people found the following comment useful :-
more enjoyable than it should be..., 31 August 2005
Author: JoeytheBrit from www.moviemoviesite.com

St. Ives was the first of a run of movies Charles Bronson made with veteran British director J. Lee Thompson, and – with a few notable exceptions – pretty much set the tone for both his movie persona and story content for the rest of his career. In this one he plays Raymond St. Ives, introduced to us in a curiously disconnected opening scene that informs us, thanks mostly to his agent who disappears for the rest of the film, that he is a former crime writer turned failed novelist with a broken marriage behind him and a bad gambling habit. No doubt, then, that we're in the domain of the American anti-hero here, although St. Ives' status as such is a little ill-defined: he might be a loser, but he is without doubt the guy wearing white, no matter how hard scriptwriter Barry Beckerman tries to muddy the waters. More in the style of Sam Spade than Harry Callahan, you get the impression as you watch that St. Ives allows himself to be drawn into the plots of arch-criminal Abner Procane (John Houseman) simply to see what will happen next. He casts an appreciative eye over Janet Whistler (Jacqueline Bisset) Procane's ravishing protégé, but makes no effort to bed her, allowing her, instead, to make the first move. It's a gratuitous encounter, filmed no doubt more for the trailer than for any plot development, but it supplies a brief diversion for both St. Ives and the audience from a rather far-fetched and convoluted plot.

Bronson's St. Ives kills time losing money on rash bets as he waits for yet another publisher's rejection slip to present itself, so is in no position to refuse when he's offered the position of go-between for Procane, owner of five stolen – and incriminating – ledgers, and the thieves who are demanding $100,000 for their return. St. Ives succeeds in recovering the ledgers, but pages detailing super-criminal Procane's next heist are missing. St. Ives throws in his lot with Procane and his delicious colleague, Janet Wheeler, in a plan to steal from those who stole from Procane.

John Houseman is a curious choice for the part of Procane, although he seems to be enjoying himself. He's about twenty years too old for the part, even with what little hair he has dyed an alarming shade of red, and his delivery is vaguely reminiscent of the older Ray Milland. He heads a fine supporting cast for a Bronson film – in fact the story is a little overcrowded with characters, and it seems as if they are queueing up to get knocked off at times. Harry Guardino's in there as a cop, partnering the ever-dependable Harris Yulin; Dana Elcar broods around, barking loudly with his hands in his pockets as the duo's boss; Maximilian Schell plays Procane's psychiatrist in one of the film's cheesier aspects. He plays it like he thinks he's making a spoof film, and you expect him to starrrrt rrrrrolling his rrrrrr's at any moment and ending hiz pluralz viz a zee. Even 40s gunsel Elisha Cook Jr. puts in an appearance as the sleepy doorman at St. Ives' rundown hotel. And 'stars' of the future, Robert 'Freddy' Englund and Jeff 'twitchy' Goldblum get small roles as a couple of thugs.

Overall, St. Ives is an acceptable movie that isn't quite as absorbing as its convoluted plot suggests it should be. The central character wanders around with apparently little real concern about what is going on, and even less about who keeps trying to kill him, and consistently fails to ask the questions you would expect a person in his position to ask. While not quite falling into the 'typically cheesy 70s movie' category, this one strays perilously close at times. Its only truly memorable scene is the final one, which is an absolute pearler, and which Dana Elcar plays to perfection…

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2 out of 2 people found the following comment useful :-
"Cops! J***S! Screw!", 21 June 2005
6/10
Author: Scott LeBrun from Winnipeg, Canada

The delivery of these three words by Dana Elcar gave me a big laugh, and probably more entertainment than the balance of the film! That's not to say that it's a bad film. While the plethora of twists and turns require one to pay close attention, it's a slick and quick-paced mystery / thriller that provides Charles Bronson with one of his better roles (he also happens to give one of his better performances).

Bronson also gets a truly excellent supporting cast. John Houseman seems to be relishing his role as a devious rich man who hires Bronson's ex-newspaper columnist / would-be novelist as a "go-between"; that is, his job is to exchange a hefty sum of money for a set of ledgers that had been stolen from Houseman.

Nothing is quite what it seems in this movie in which Bronson has to figure out what is going on, and who is what, while extricating himself from the mess he's gotten himself into. People start dropping off left and right until a showdown at Houseman's estate.

A decent film that should deliver the goods for Bronson fans. However, the biggest attraction for me remains, as it was the first time that I saw it a number of years ago, the chance to see a much younger Robert Englund and Jeff Goldblum as two of the three punks who attack Bronson at one point.

Jacqueline Bisset, Maximilian Schell, Harry Guardino, and Harris Yulin round out the main cast; other players include Michael Lerner, Elisha Cook Jr., Dick O'Neill, and Daniel J. Travanti. The late, legendary stuntman Dar Robinson plays a guy falling to his death.

Composer Lalo Schifrin contributes a typical 1970's style jazz score that instantly reminded me of his "Dirty Harry" work.

It's nothing special although I would definitely consider it superior to some of the films Bronson headlined in the 1980's.

6/10

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3 out of 4 people found the following comment useful :-
ST. IVES (J. Lee Thompson, 1976) **1/2, 11 October 2007
6/10
Author: MARIO GAUCI (marrod@melita.com) from Naxxar, Malta

*** This comment may contain spoilers ***

Even if not filmed in that recognizable style, this thriller's plot could be deemed noir-ish – with Charles Bronson as the outwardly cool but increasingly bewildered hero, and where the Jacqueline Bisset character is eventually revealed as a femme fatale.

This was the star's first of 9 films with director Thompson, and it's also one of his better vehicles (which, again, I had inexplicably missed out on several times on TV in the past). Generally enjoyable and fast-paced, though needlessly convoluted, it definitely benefits from a strong cast – including John Houseman as the mysterious old man (and something of a Silent movie aficionado) who gives Bronson a deceptively simple assignment which soon turns deadly; Maximilian Schell as Houseman's physician (suffering from a bad cold throughout) who also transpires to be not quite what he seems; ditto Tweedle-Dee and Tweedle-Dum cops Harry Guardino and Harris Yulin; Burr De Benning as a traffic cop with ambitions above his station; Dana Elcar as a sympathetic Police Captain; Michael Lerner (who appears far too briefly) as Bronson's flustered lawyer; genre stalwart Elisha Cook Jr. as a hotel desk-clerk who's perennially asleep on the job, and even Jeff Goldblum and Robert Englund as thugs (who contrive to throw Bronson down an elevator shaft)! There's also a good, upbeat score by Lalo Schifrin.

Though the all-important drive-in sequence towards the end becomes unintentionally amusing – when the same stampede sequence (as far as I could tell, it's taken from the Warners-produced John Wayne vehicle CHISUM [1970]) is repeated over and over! – the film makes up for this with the busy climax, which as I said, provides a number of twists. It's capped, then, by a wonderful coda involving Bronson's bemused reaction to the incorrigible Bisset's wiles (he leaves her in the embarrassed Elcar's custody).

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