Main Cast: Frank Sinatra, Raquel Welch, Richard Conte, Martin Gabel, Lainie Kazan
Release Year: 1968
Country: US
Run Time: 93 minutes
Plot
Tony Rome (Frank Sinatra) is a Miami private detective who discovers a lady in cement while scuba diving. Rome is hired by Gronsky (Dan Blocker) to find out if the woman is his missing girlfriend. He interviews Kit Forrest (Raquel Welch), a boozy socialite who had seen the woman at a drunken party earlier. Tony is warned by Kit's neighbor Al Munger (Martin Gabel) to stay away from Kit. Tony discovers Al is a former rackets boss and suspects there is more to the story than Kit and Al are letting on. With the help of local Lieutenant Santini (Richard Conti), Tony contacts artist Arnie Sherwin (Richard Deacon), who helps identify the dead woman as Gronsky's girlfriend. The plot thickens when Gronsky admits that he and Al's son Paul (Steve Peck) were dipping into Al's fund of ill-gotten money. Tony eliminates Kit as a suspect as he tries to solve the crime in this murder mystery. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide
Review
Lady in Cement is not nearly as much fun as it should have been, which is unfortunate. While its predecessor, Tony Rome, was no great shakes as art, it had more life to it. Cement's plot is considerably more involved than that of Rome, and while the puzzle-like aspect of it makes for some good old-fashioned whodunit entertainment, it also seems to squash down a bit of the lightheartedness that the audience expects. Frank Sinatra is also partly to blame, for while he's certainly watchable and knows how to toss away a good line with just the right combination of disinterest and aplomb, too often here he's content to just toss them away. Fortunately, the rest of the cast pulls their own weight and then some -- a significant job in the case of Dan Blocker, whose performance is far and away the finest and most enjoyable in the film. Raquel Welch adds some much needed spice and is at her physical peak here, Lainie Kazan is aces as a delectable go-go girl, and Richard Conte and Martin Gabel add some nice touches to their characters. Cement never takes off the way that the viewer wants, but there's enough to it to make it worth catching. ~ Craig Butler, All Movie Guide
Pat Henry - Rubin; Joe E. Lewis - Himself; Dan Blocker - Gronsky; Richard Deacon - Arnie Sherwin; Steven Peck - Paul Mungar; Frank Raiter - Danny Yale; Mac Robbins - Sidney the organizer; Christine Todd - Sandra Lomax; Virginia Wood - Audrey; Peter Hock - Frenchy; Alex Stevens - Shev; Ray Baumel - Paco; Andrew Jarrell - Pool Boy
Credit
LeRoy G. Deane - Art Director, Moss Mabry - Costume Designer, Gordon M. Douglas - Director, Robert L. Simpson - Editor, Hugo Montenegro - Composer (Music Score), Hugo Montenegro - Musical Direction/Supervision, Layne Britton - Makeup, Dan Striepeke - Makeup, Joseph Biroc - Cinematographer, Ricou Browning - Cinematographer, Aaron Rosenberg - Producer, Walter Scott - Set Designer, Jerry Wunderlich - Set Designer, L.B. Abbott - Special Effects, Art Cruickshank - Special Effects, Howard Warren - Sound/Sound Designer, David Dockendorf - Sound/Sound Designer, Marvin H. Albert - Screenwriter, Marvin H. Albert - Book Author
While 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 and thinks little more of the incident until man-mountain Waldo Gronski 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, whose party Sandra Lomax was supposed to have attended. Rome’s talking to Forrester raises the ire of racketeer Al Mungar, a supposedly reformed gangster who looks after Kit’s interests.
Rome, thinking there may be a connection between Lomax, Forrester and Mungar, starts probing into their backgrounds and begins a romantic relationship with Kit. But with both cops and crooks chasing him and the omnipresent Gronski breathing down his neck, Rome finds himself deep in a case that provides very few answers.
The plot of this movie bears a strong resemblance to the novel "Darker than Amber" by John D. MacDonald (a Travis McGee story, circa 1966).
Opening to mixed reviews, Lady In Cement is generally considered to be a middling sequel to Tony Rome. Critic Roger Ebert gave faint praise in a generally scathing review by commenting: “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 inside references to stars of the film, including an instrumental of the Sinatra song You Make Me Feel So Young during one scene. A clip of the TV series Bonanza was used 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 Miami restaurant.
DVD Release
Lady In Cement was released on DVD on May 24, 2005 as part of a boxed set along with Tony Rome and The Detective, both also directed by Douglas. The release was generally praised for its picture quality although no bonus features were included.
