A great philosopher once wrote, "Cameron Mitchell never made a bad movie." Or was that, "Cameron Mitchell made lots of bad movies"? Either way, we all win! Criminal Joe Marks (Mitchell) and his associate Nighthawk (Stack Pierce) steals a bunch of guns from a military depot. Lt. James Long (Leo Fong) and ATF agent Bill Bryant (Richard Roundtree) are on the case. End of plot. The main reason to see this film is Mitchell's completely unhinged performance. As a vicious crime boss, he sure spends a lot of time cuddling up to his poodle Sparky! He has it in bed (where he tries to get it to smoke), in a jacuzzi (where the tries to get it to swim) and even has rambling monologues about the dog when it is no longer on this earth. Fong was in his mid-50s when this was made and he doesn't look a day over 60. Roundtree appears to have only been paid for a few days as he is killed about an hour in. The film is filled with hilarious dialogue, my favorite being the following exchange:
Police Chief: "Okay, I'm assigning Lt. James Long to the case."
ATF agent: "Long? Isn't he the one whose wife and child were raped and killed?"
Police Chief: "Yeah."
ATF agent: "Do you think he is mentally able to handle this?"
Police Chief: "Hell no he's not able to handle it. But he'll get the job done."
Police Chief: "Okay, I'm assigning Lt. James Long to the case."
ATF agent: "Long? Isn't he the one whose wife and child were raped and killed?"
Police Chief: "Yeah."
ATF agent: "Do you think he is mentally able to handle this?"
Police Chief: "Hell no he's not able to handle it. But he'll get the job done."