Lady In Cement

"Lady In Cement" is a 1968 detective film, directed by Gordon Douglas and starring Frank Sinatra, Raquel Welch, Dan Blocker, Martin Gabel and Richard Conte. A sequel to the 1967 film Tony Rome, and based on the novel by Marvin H. Albert, Lady In Cement was released on November 20th 1968.

Plot

Whilst diving off the Miami coast seeking one of the eleven fabled Spanish Galleons sunk in 1591, Private Investigator Tony Rome discovers a dead blonde, her feet encased in cement, at the bottom of the ocean. Rome reports this to Lieutenant Dave Santini (Richard Conte) and thinks little more of the incident until man-mountain Waldo Gronsky (Dan Blocker) hires him to find a missing woman, Sandra Lomax. Gronsky has little in the way of affluence, so allows Rome to pawn his watch to retain his services.

After investigating the local hot-spots and picking up on a few names, Rome soon comes across Kit Forrester (Raquel Welch), whose party Sandra Lomax was supposed to have attended, although, Rome’s talking to Forrester raises the ire of racketeer Al Munger (Martin Gabel) who looks after Kit’s interests. Rome thinking there may be a connection between Lomax, Forrester and Munger, starts probing into their background, but with the omnipresent Gronski breathing down his neck, Rome find himself deep in a case that throws up very few answers.

Critical Reception

Opening to mixed reviews, Lady In Cement is generally considered to be a middling sequel to Tony Rome, Roger Ebert giving faint praise in a generally scathing review by commenting that “In the movie's few good scenes, Sinatra once again painfully reminds us what a controlled, effective actor he is.” Variety noted that “Dan Blocker is excellent as a sympathetic heavy,” whilst John Maloney liked the “fresher script” and “sharp direction.”

In Jokes and References

Within Lady In Cement the director, Gordon Douglas, and star, Frank Sinatra, dropped a few references to Sinatra and other stars in the film, using an instrumental of the Sinatra song You Make Me Feel So Young during one scene and playing a clip of TV show Bonanza in one scene, the series for which co-star Dan Blocker famously played Hoss Cartwright. There's also a reference to Sinatra's ex-wife Ava Gardner during a scene in which Rome comments on knowing a girl who used to date bullfighters. Also, those with a sharp eye will notice on the side of a cab an advertisement for Dean Martin's restaurant.

DVD Release

Lady In Cement was released on DVD on May 24th 2005 as part of a box set along with Tony Rome and The Detective. The release was generally praised for its picture quality although no bonus features were included.

External links

Roger Ebert’s Review: http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/19681203/REVIEWS/812030301/1023

Variety’s Review: http://www.variety.com/review/VE1117792413.html?categoryid=31&cs=1&p=0

Review of the DVD Release by DVD Times: http://www.dvdtimes.co.uk/content.php?contentid=57693