Word: huttons
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Directed by Brian Hutton...
Sinatra still knows how to seize the screen simply by being around and being himself. But most of those behind the screen settled for hackwork. Catechists will recall that pride is the first deadly sin. Would that Director Hutton had taken some pride in honest craftsmanship...
...Hutton's camera catches all the nuances and real-life minutiae of his characters and settings, from Delaney's pursing of lips and slight cocking of head to the "Wet Paint" sign in the precinct house, to the pink-jacked, clothespin-nosed punk rocker being busted for solicitation. Similarly, the dialogue lends a certain sardonic grittiness to The First Deadly...
James Whitmore as a coroner and Martin Gabel as a museum arms curator who eventually tracks down the killer's weapon bring further touches of self-deprecating humor to their roles, yet once again Hutton fails to weave these nuances into the main body of the plot. One is left instead with just isolated stars, isolated scenes and an isolated plot...
...delicious on their own merits--it's only when so combined that the recipe fails to pan out, as neither Sinatra's nor Dunaway's performance can provide enough spark to carry the entire story by itself. In short, the first deadly sin was for a dogged director like Hutton to attempt to translate Lawrence Sanders' novel to the silver screen. The second deadly sin is to force it upon the unsuspecting public...