Dayton's Devils (1968) User Reviews

A pretty good little movie!

[badger-37 · 5/10 · 15 May 2004]

I don't see why comments are so negative on this film. Before movies got so "pretentious", and ticket prices so high-----this would have been considered a very good 2nd feature on a double bill. I wouldn't buy it--- but it is certainly well worth renting. It is very well done. The actors play their parts well and the story is quite exciting.

It was nice seeing some actors I haven't seen for awhile. Nicely crafted and very well done. Take a look!

Lainie Kazan's first feature. The same year as "Funny Girl"

[NMBtoNYC · 7/10 · 3 May 2005]

Barbra Streisand's understudy from "Funny Girl" who two decades before becoming the heir apparent to Shelly Winters as a respected character actress, was for a brief moment in history a sixties Jewish sex symbol! Lainie plays a California nightclub singer (was there such a thing? perhaps. But not with her Streisandesque singing style) who is looking for a little excitement. And we are the lucky recipients in this forgotten camp classic. Over the course of one forgotten but pleasurable B movie several of the lead male actors make out with Lainie. They fight over her. One discusser her to another and comments, "That Lida Martell is some woman." All of these old fashioned Nixonian men's men carry on about her like she is Raquel Welch. One actor beats her up, pulls her hair and then forces himself on her and she likes it. She serves the men drinks like she is a Playboy bunny. She sings the classic song, "Sunny" in a makeshift nightclub that looks like it is on a C level cruise ship and sings in a mode more suited to "Valley of the Dolls" than a men's action movie of any time. She has a bathing suit scene. She has an interchange with a man in a nightclub showing off her ample bosom discussing her romantic philosophy as if she thinks she is saying the most brilliant lines ever written. She has a scuba diving scene. She screams at the top of her lungs twice. Playing bit parts in the movie are Mike Farrell (later on "Mash") and Bo Hopkins (action star in the following decade). This movie is real campy fun.

Routine Payroll Robbery Caper With A Twist

[zardoz-13 · 5/10 · 24 May 2014]

"Dayton's Devils" isn't a bad little crime thriller, but it could have been far more entertaining. The biggest difference between this payroll robbery caper and most is that the heist happens on a U.S. Air Force Base. Frank Dayton (Leslie Neilson) is the mastermind behind this audacious outing, and a former Nazi named Max (Eric Braeden of "The Rat Patrol") serves as his co-planner. They have worked out a meticulous plan to steal approximately over a million bucks. As plans go, their plan is sufficiently elaborate. Frank and Max have selected a number of individuals with expertise in appropriate areas to make a safe getaway. They masquerade as U.S.A.F. personnel, enter a military installation, and take over the paymaster's office. After they herd the payroll employees into the vault, they load several boxes of money into a truck and clear the gate moments before the Air Police get wise to their scheme. The authorities have no luck initially catching up with them. When they do, they crash into the rear of a parked truck on the side of a mountain and plunge into the sea. The Coast Guard ply the waters and inspect the boat that they will eventually use to transport the loot to safety. Naturally, since this was made back in the 'crime doesn't pay days before "Thunderbolt and Lightfoot," our villainous protagonists watch as their plan falls through because the skipper of the fishing boat knows how much money was stolen. He wants the lion's share and a gunfight erupt on the boat. During the fracas, the boat catches on fire and the Coast Guard rushes to their rescue. Mind you, "Dayton's Devils" isn't a bad little flick, but director Jack Shea generates little suspense during the intricate operation. Roy Calhoun co-stars but takes top billing over Leslie Neilson. Lainie Kazan has a small supporting role and you get to see her shed her clothes and climb into a wetsuit. This was Leslie Nielson during his straight-faced bad guys role playing days. Look for Mike Farrell of "M.A.S.H." fame in a bit part along with Bo Hopkins and Bruce Glover. Better production values and a stronger script might have bolstered this routine effort. Nielsen is appropriately abrasive as the leader, while Rory Calhoun is just another one of the henchmen.

An OK adventure/caper movie

[rudge49 · 21 December 2005]

I saw this one in somewhat odd circumstances. I was in the Army (nothing odd about that) and I was flying home on leave (nothing odd about that) and for reasons I have long forgotten I saw this one without the sound, so I have never heard the dialog. None the less I enjoyed watching it, I could follow the story pretty closely, even figure out the pecking order in the gang of crooks. Probably a good example of what they understood in the Silent Era, namely that movies are supposed to be a visual medium and you can tell a story without words. A good example of what used to be called a B-Movie or a second feature.

If there ever was a F movie

[ronny-15-114194 · 1/10 · 8 January 2021]

I suffered trough this move in the year 1988, when vcr rental movei was the only choice to see more than the 1chanal tv in norway, so I rented it and had to watch the whole movie to get my money value. It is so poore put together, as I still have chills about the wasted time watching this movie, it is the worst film made I have ever seen. If you want to enjoy other movies you definitive should watch this one, so you understand how bad a film can be.

Underrated and totally forgotten heist film

[searchanddestroy-1 · 7 January 2024]

Far far before OCEAN'S ELEVEN (2001) like craps showing very cool complicated heists, a new kind of action thrillers since then and lousier one than the other, the sixties era was also prolific in this kind of plots, schemes. I don't know the director Jack Shea, never heard of him, he seems to have mostly made TV stuff. This one brings nothing special, but if you are a heist films lover, especially from the old times, dont miss this one. Every ingredient is in it: crew recruit, training and execution of the caper. I repeat, there were batches of those films during the sixties and even seventies. But I prefered for instance ASSAULT ON A QUEEN. Just an example.