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St. Ives on DVD

Ex-crime reporter Raymond St. Ives has elegant taste, a yen for gambling and an unfinished novel in his typewriter. When he crosses paths with sinister Abner Procane, he gets something else: a price on his head. St. Ives is a hard-boiled update of classic mystery thrillers, particularly The Maltese Falcon. Charles Bronson is smoothly right as the clever title character, at odds with petty crooks and high rollers - among them, Maximilian Schell as a whining lackey and Jacqueline Bisset as a modern femme fatale. But the show is stolen by John Houseman as the devilish Procane, a worthy successor to Sydney Greenstreet. Elisha Cook, Daniel J. Travanti, Jeff Goldblum and Robert Englund are also featured in this sleek, funny caper.