Tony Rome
Encyclopedia
Tony Rome is a 1967 detective film starring Frank Sinatra
and directed by Gordon Douglas
, adapted from Marvin Albert's novel Miami Mayhem. Filming took place on location in Miami, Florida, with some scenes being shot during the day at the Fontainebleau Miami Beach, where Sinatra was performing in the evenings. The story follows the adventures of Miami private investigator
Tony Rome (Sinatra) in his quest to locate a missing diamond pin that belongs to a wealthy heiress.
Nancy Sinatra
, daughter of Frank, sang the film's eponymous title track which appears on her album, Nancy Sinatra, The Hit Years (Rhino Records, Inc.).
A sequel, Lady In Cement
, was made in 1968, again featuring Sinatra as Tony Rome, and co-starring Raquel Welch
and Dan Blocker
.
Both films are examples of a late-sixties neo-noir
trend that revived and updated the hardboiled detective and police dramas of the 1940s. Sinatra had originally been considered for the lead role as the tough private eye in Harper
(1966), but lost out to Paul Newman
. Other films in this genre include Point Blank (1967), Bullitt
(1968), Madigan
(1968), Marlowe (1969), and The Detective
(1968) starring Sinatra.
Tony Rome, The Detective, and Lady in Cement were all directed by Gordon Douglas. The three films were packaged together in a DVD box-set by 20th Century Fox
in 2005. Douglas also directed Sinatra in Young at Heart
(1954) and Robin and the 7 Hoods
(1964).
), is the daughter of rich construction magnate Rudolph Kosterman (Simon Oakland
), who subsequently hires Rome to find out why his daughter is acting so irrationally.
Diana, after regaining consciousness, discovers that a diamond brooch, which she had been wearing the night before, has gone missing. Diana and her stepmother (Gena Rowlands
) also hire Rome, in this instance, to find the lost brooch. This, however, leads Rome into a maze of trouble, all the while being hired and counter-hired by Kosterman, his daughter, and his wife.
specialized.
Roger Ebert
gave the film 3 out of 4 stars.
, the author of "A Squirrel of One's Own" and "A Squirrel Forever."
Frank Sinatra
Francis Albert "Frank" Sinatra was an American singer and actor.Beginning his musical career in the swing era with Harry James and Tommy Dorsey, Sinatra became an unprecedentedly successful solo artist in the early to mid-1940s, after being signed to Columbia Records in 1943. Being the idol of the...
and directed by Gordon Douglas
Gordon Douglas (director)
Gordon Douglas was an American film director, who directed many different genres of films over the course of a five-decade career in motion pictures. He was a native of New York City.-Hal Roach and Our Gang:...
, adapted from Marvin Albert's novel Miami Mayhem. Filming took place on location in Miami, Florida, with some scenes being shot during the day at the Fontainebleau Miami Beach, where Sinatra was performing in the evenings. The story follows the adventures of Miami private investigator
Private investigator
A private investigator , private detective or inquiry agent, is a person who can be hired by individuals or groups to undertake investigatory law services. Private detectives/investigators often work for attorneys in civil cases. Many work for insurance companies to investigate suspicious claims...
Tony Rome (Sinatra) in his quest to locate a missing diamond pin that belongs to a wealthy heiress.
Nancy Sinatra
Nancy Sinatra
Nancy Sandra Sinatra is an American singer and actress. She is the daughter of singer/actor Frank Sinatra, and remains best known for her 1966 signature hit "These Boots Are Made for Walkin'"....
, daughter of Frank, sang the film's eponymous title track which appears on her album, Nancy Sinatra, The Hit Years (Rhino Records, Inc.).
A sequel, Lady In Cement
Lady In Cement
Lady In Cement is a 1968 detective film, directed by Gordon Douglas and starring Frank Sinatra, Raquel Welch, Dan Blocker, Martin Gabel and Richard Conte. A sequel to the 1967 film Tony Rome, and based on the novel by Marvin H...
, was made in 1968, again featuring Sinatra as Tony Rome, and co-starring Raquel Welch
Raquel Welch
Jo Raquel Tejada , better known as Raquel Welch, is an American actress, author and sex symbol. Welch came to attention as a "new-star" on the 20th Century-Fox lot in the mid-1960s. She posed iconically in a animal skin bikini for the British-release One Million Years B.C. , for which she may be...
and Dan Blocker
Dan Blocker
Dan Blocker was an American actor best remembered for his role as Eric "Hoss" Cartwright in the NBC western television series Bonanza.-Early life:...
.
Both films are examples of a late-sixties neo-noir
Neo-noir
Neo-noir is a style often seen in modern motion pictures and other forms that prominently utilize elements of film noir, but with updated themes, content, style, visual elements or media that were absent in films noir of the 1940s and 1950s.-History:The term Film Noir was coined by...
trend that revived and updated the hardboiled detective and police dramas of the 1940s. Sinatra had originally been considered for the lead role as the tough private eye in Harper
Harper (film)
Harper is a 1966 film written by William Goldman from a novel by Ross Macdonald. The movie starred Paul Newman as the eponymous Lew Harper . The original music score was composed by Johnny Mandel. Goldman received a 1967 Edgar Award for Best Motion Picture Screenplay...
(1966), but lost out to Paul Newman
Paul Newman
Paul Leonard Newman was an American actor, film director, entrepreneur, humanitarian, professional racing driver and auto racing enthusiast...
. Other films in this genre include Point Blank (1967), Bullitt
Bullitt
Bullitt is a 1968 American police procedural film starring Steve McQueen, Jacqueline Bisset and Robert Vaughn. It was directed by Peter Yates and distributed by Warner Bros. The story was adapted for the screen by Alan Trustman and Harry Kleiner, based on the 1963 novel Mute Witness by Robert L....
(1968), Madigan
Madigan
Madigan is a 1968 American thriller film directed by Don Siegel and starring Richard Widmark and Henry Fonda.The screenplay, originally titled Friday, Saturday, Sunday, was adapted by two writers who had been blacklisted in the 1950s, Abraham Polonsky and Howard Rodman , based on a novel titled The...
(1968), Marlowe (1969), and The Detective
The Detective (1968 film)
The Detective is a 1968 film directed by Gordon Douglas, produced by Aaron Rosenberg and starring Frank Sinatra, based on the 1966 novel of the same name by Roderick Thorp.Co-stars include Lee Remick, Jacqueline Bisset, Jack Klugman and Robert Duvall....
(1968) starring Sinatra.
Tony Rome, The Detective, and Lady in Cement were all directed by Gordon Douglas. The three films were packaged together in a DVD box-set by 20th Century Fox
20th Century Fox
Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation — also known as 20th Century Fox, or simply 20th or Fox — is one of the six major American film studios...
in 2005. Douglas also directed Sinatra in Young at Heart
Young at Heart (1954 film)
Young at Heart is a 1954 film, directed by Gordon Douglas. It was a remake of the 1938 film Four Daughters, and it starred Frank Sinatra, Doris Day, Gig Young, Ethel Barrymore, Alan Hale, Jr and Dorothy Malone and was the first of five films that Gordon Douglas directed with Frank...
(1954) and Robin and the 7 Hoods
Robin and the 7 Hoods
Robin and the 7 Hoods is a 1964 American musical film that transplants the Robin Hood legend to a 1930s Chicago gangster setting. Directed by Gordon Douglas and produced by Frank Sinatra, with a screenplay by David R. Schwartz, the movie stars members of the Rat Pack as well as Bing Crosby, Peter...
(1964).
Plot
Tony Rome, an ex-cop turned private investigator, lives on a powerboat in Miami. He is asked by his former partner, Ralph Turpin (Robert J. Wilke), to take home a young woman who had been left unconscious in a hotel room. The woman, Diana Pines (née Kosterman) (Sue LyonSue Lyon
- Lolita :Sue Lyon was 14 years old when she was cast in the role of Dolores "Lolita" Haze, the sexually charged adolescent and the object of an older man's obsessions in Stanley Kubrick's 1962 film, Lolita. She was chosen for the role partly because her curvy figure suggested an older adolescent...
), is the daughter of rich construction magnate Rudolph Kosterman (Simon Oakland
Simon Oakland
Simon Oakland was an American actor of stage, screen, and television.-Early life and career:Oakland was born in Brooklyn, New York City. He began his performing arts career as a musician . He began his acting career in the late 1940s...
), who subsequently hires Rome to find out why his daughter is acting so irrationally.
Diana, after regaining consciousness, discovers that a diamond brooch, which she had been wearing the night before, has gone missing. Diana and her stepmother (Gena Rowlands
Gena Rowlands
Gena Rowlands is an American actress of film, stage and television. The four-time Emmy and two-time Golden Globe winner is best known for her collaborations with her actor-director husband John Cassavetes in ten films, in two of which, Gloria and A Woman Under the Influence, she gave Academy...
) also hire Rome, in this instance, to find the lost brooch. This, however, leads Rome into a maze of trouble, all the while being hired and counter-hired by Kosterman, his daughter, and his wife.
Critical reception
Tony Rome was met with good reviews upon release, although not quite the best notice Sinatra had in his career. Nevertheless, it was thought by many that he eased well into the kind of role in which his late friend Humphrey BogartHumphrey Bogart
Humphrey DeForest Bogart was an American actor. He is widely regarded as a cultural icon.The American Film Institute ranked Bogart as the greatest male star in the history of American cinema....
specialized.
Roger Ebert
Roger Ebert
Roger Joseph Ebert is an American film critic and screenwriter. He is the first film critic to win a Pulitzer Prize for Criticism.Ebert is known for his film review column and for the television programs Sneak Previews, At the Movies with Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert, and Siskel and Ebert and The...
gave the film 3 out of 4 stars.
Production
This movie was filmed partially on the rental property of Douglas FairbairnDouglas Fairbairn
Douglas Fairbairn was an American author. He attended but did not graduate from Harvard College, where he was editor of the Harvard Lampoon. His novels include "A Man's World" , "A Squirrel of One's Own" , "Shoot" , "A Squirrel Forever" , "Street 8" and his memoirs, "Down and Out in Cambridge"...
, the author of "A Squirrel of One's Own" and "A Squirrel Forever."
External links
- Tony Rome (1967) at the Internet Movie DatabaseInternet Movie DatabaseInternet Movie Database is an online database of information related to movies, television shows, actors, production crew personnel, video games and fictional characters featured in visual entertainment media. It is one of the most popular online entertainment destinations, with over 100 million...
- Tony Rome at Sixties Crime Films