Private-eye thriller that promises rather more than it delivers, especially given Burt Reynolds, as a `gumshoe' who sleeps on a pool table, showing early signs of the Reynolds comedy touch, and doing most of his own, bone-crunching stuntwork. It was this film, in fact, that brought the star's long-standing feud with Hollywood insurance men to a head, when he injured his back in one flying leap, and production was held up while he recovered. One other coup: the casting of opera singer Giorgio Tozzi as a gourmet gangster who "snitches" on his fellow criminals over a four-course lunch. The film takes some sly digs at The Big Sleep on the way, and its plot is every bit as complicated.

©ipc tx. Film content from TVTimes