Unable to resist ordering just now the new TT Blu-ray of this and its sequel LADY IN CEMENT from SAE. Not the greatest movies ever made, but the sixties' allure remains. Time capsule movies now, especially of what Miami and surroundings used to look like before so many moved down there -- and in my opinion -- ruined it.
Comments from anyone that still digs these movies?
Unable to resist ordering just now the new TT Blu-ray of this and its sequel LADY IN CEMENT from SAE. Not the greatest movies ever made, but the sixties' allure remains. Time capsule movies now, especially of what Miami and surroundings used to look like before so many moved down there -- and in my opinion -- ruined it.
Comments from anyone that still digs these movies?
I'm a great fan of 60s movies-the style, presentation,advertising, everything. Have a lifetime collection of UK magazines and newspaper advertisements along with weekly diaries of release dates from 1966 to 1980.
I bought the dvds for these two films ten years ago and used to watch them often. They were some of the first dvds I ever owned.
Tony Rome and Lady in Cement capture what I see as the very tail end of Miami's "glamour" period, before the rot and decay truly set in. Or rather, before more people started to notice it since it was always there. There's a car pursuit scene in Lady in Cement with some stunnng aerial shots of what Miami looked like circa 1968. There must have been a rain drought that year because a lot of the landscape looks brown. The scenes shot at the Fountainbleau Hotel is soooo old Miami, perhaps even then. Those pinksh-red sidewalks were still there last I looked but the "Pantry Pride" supermarket chain--quickly seen in the car chase--is long gone. Despite the nostalgia, there has always been an ugliness about Miami that betrays its visual beauty.
The blue water and the narrow strip of beach are really all that's truly beautiful, otherwise, what can you say about a place that's built on a swamp? I never really came to like South Florida much, mostly because of the persistent heat and humidity, and the ever present palmetto bug. But, I used to work with a guy down there who grew up in Ft. Lauderdale in the sixties, and he thought it went to hell in the early seventies.
