Shamus

The year after showing off his dramatic chops in "Deliverance", Burt Reynolds fell back into routine action mode with 1973's forgettable SHAMUS.

Burt was cranking out 2 or 3 films a year during this early stage of his eventual rise to number one box office draw of the 70's.

This one's got a higher budget than many, but suffers from a script so stupid and unnecessarily confusing that no amount of Burt can save it.

Reynolds is likeable enough as NYC private eye Shamus McCoy. He loves the ladies, is up for any one-night romp and is quick with a one liner or a cocktail.

Based on his office/pad he's either not doing very well or is blowing a lot of money on the seventies "booze & broads".

Eccentric millionaire EJ Hume (Ron Weyand) hires Shamus when a thief steals a package of diamonds from his safe. It's a $10,000 payday for McCoy, but he realizes he may be in over his head when he tracks down the thief and he's been murdered.

Writer Berry Beckerman (St. Ives) tries to create a strange blend of Humphrey Bogart gumshoe film noir, violent seventies action and light comedy. He's wrongly convinced that the more eccentric you make a supporting character, the more entertaining they are. Nope.

There are standouts.

Dyan Cannon (Heaven Can Wait, Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice) is at her best as the sister of a main suspect. She bounces through the film in garish seventies luxury garb, bringing an infectious laugh and style with her that the film screams for whenever she steps out.

She and Burt have real chemistry. I'd rather see a movie about them having lunch and walking around NYC then sit through most of this dreck.

There's a very goofy scene in the conclusion that takes place in an armory that falls flat as action or comedy, but that's followed by the film's best sequence on the enormous grounds of EJ Hume's palatial estate. Reynolds is finally in his element as he takes on a squad of bad guys.

There is a famous shot in that sequence where Reynolds jumps off a wall to grab a tree branch, it breaks and he falls incredibly hard to the ground. The branch broke accidentally during filming but the results are so dramatic, they kept it in the film. It's one of the few stunts that Reynolds didn't attempt, and his stunt double Charlie Picerni suffered a concussion when he hit the ground. It's a wow. (you can see the fall in the original 1973 trailer below)

The one real standout here is Jerry Goldsmith/s jazzy, cool music score. Like his music for "Coma" there is little to no music in the first half, but the back half of the film sees Goldsmith (Planet of the Apes, Capricorn One, Poltergeist, Gremlins) in his usual fine form. It's a great collectable soundtrack to this day.

If someone's looking for a great Burt Reynolds cop/private eye film, I'd go all in on "Sharky's Machine". This one aimlessly winds its way to a muddled, dull place in his lesser films, no matter how hard he and Cannon try.

SHAMUS tracks down a D.