Brass Target (1978)

Director: John Hough

Writers: Frederick Nolan, Alvin Boretz

Composer: Laurence Rosenthal

Starring: Sophia Loren, John Cassavetes, George Kennedy, Robert Vaughn, Patrick McGoohan, Bruce Davison, Edward Herrmann, Max von Sydow, Ed Bishop, Lee Montague, Alan Tilvern, Hal Galili, Bernard Horsfall, John Junkin, Brad Harris

More info: IMDb

Tagline:  The Germans hid it. The Russians want it. The Americans stole it. General George S. Patton may die for it.

Plot: During the latter days of World War II, a shipment of gold is stolen. General Patton vows to find it. But it turns out that American officers are involved and they try to stop him before he gets to them. They hire an assassin to take care of him. At the same time an American intelligence officer who is investigating the robbery, learns of the plot and tries to find the assassin before he gets Patton.

My rating:  6/10

Will I watch it again?  Nope.

Great cast.  It looks great, too.  It's got an interesting story with lovely locations (Germany and Switzerland).  It's a shame then that it's not as good as it could have been.  I'm guessing that most of the fault is in the script.  While the story is interesting, there's simply too much going on and the lack of tension building keeps the climax from having any bite.  It's not a bad picture but it is lackluster in that regard, despite the big name cast with most of the actors giving it an admirable try.  Cassavetes seems a bit miscast.  He seems tired.  Maybe a Cassavetes from 10 years prior would've been more appropriate.  Loren's character is mostly there for window dressing and, while she's not in the film much despite her top billing, she doesn't play much of an important role.  Yeah, she does have something to contribute in the end but it's hardly something that couldn't be easily fixed by being absorbed by other characters.  There's one more thing, Rosenthal's score.  It lacked weight and meat.  Jerry Goldsmith would've beefed it up enough.  What Rosenthal (and he's done some great work) provided would be more at home in a TV miniseries.