Duffy is one of those films that's a chicken/egg film. Is the fact that James Mason treats his two sons Edward Fox and James Alderton like dirt make them hate him. Or is it the fact that they apparently are worthless and he let's them know it. Whatever it is, these two have made up there mind to show dear old dad a thing or two. Businessman Mason is shipping a large lot of money from Tangier to Marseille on a ship and they plan to rob it. That'll show dad.
So Alderton like the sons in House Of Strangers and Broken Lance works for wages and this film bears some resemblance to those two. Fox is just a worthless playboy starting to look a little too old for those Carnaby Street fashions that swinging London made popular in the Sixties. These two and Fox's girlfriend Susannah York do realize that they don't have the talent for this caper. So they call in an exiled American professional criminal, the guy who plays the title role in this film, James Coburn.
Knowing a bit about Coburn I can see why he gravitated to this movie. Duffy is a whole lot like the real James Coburn, a rather free spirited hedonist who saw acting as a way to make sure he had his pleasures just like Duffy is into criminality. He knows his business and gives the trio proper guidance. But York has an agenda all her own.
Duffy doesn't quite get off the ground, most of the time you're wishing he'd just smack these two Calvert twits, James Mason's idiot sons. And these two are truly not worthy of anyone's rooting interest.
But Coburn and Mason cut a pair of interesting characters and the cinematography of the blue Mediterranean is nice. Fans of Mason and Coburn will like it.
So Alderton like the sons in House Of Strangers and Broken Lance works for wages and this film bears some resemblance to those two. Fox is just a worthless playboy starting to look a little too old for those Carnaby Street fashions that swinging London made popular in the Sixties. These two and Fox's girlfriend Susannah York do realize that they don't have the talent for this caper. So they call in an exiled American professional criminal, the guy who plays the title role in this film, James Coburn.
Knowing a bit about Coburn I can see why he gravitated to this movie. Duffy is a whole lot like the real James Coburn, a rather free spirited hedonist who saw acting as a way to make sure he had his pleasures just like Duffy is into criminality. He knows his business and gives the trio proper guidance. But York has an agenda all her own.
Duffy doesn't quite get off the ground, most of the time you're wishing he'd just smack these two Calvert twits, James Mason's idiot sons. And these two are truly not worthy of anyone's rooting interest.
But Coburn and Mason cut a pair of interesting characters and the cinematography of the blue Mediterranean is nice. Fans of Mason and Coburn will like it.