A hard to see film with a good reputation, Duffy recently popped up on TCM, perhaps presaging a full-fledged home video release. Alas, the film is not as good as its reputation suggests. James Coburn is fine as the title character, a based-in-Tangiers hipster/gangster hired by the Calvert Brothers (freak James Fox, straight John Alderton) to assist with the robbery of the S.S. Osiris, a ship owned by the lads' dad (James Mason). Along for the ride is groovy chick Segolene (Susannah York), who sports a dizzying array of late 60s fashions but doesn't have much else to do. Duffy suffers from a screenplay laden with hip-speak (pad, groovy, pop porno, ad nauseum) and the Moroccan setting reminds me of Peter Walker's Die Screaming Marianne and Mike Sarne's Joanna, neither of which are very happy comparisons. On the plus side of the ledger: a good arched eyebrow performance by Alderton and an absolutely smashing, Hammond-driven score by Ernie Freeman, so all is not lost. Temper your expectations and you'll probably enjoy it.
