Amazon.com: An early example of the techno-thriller, The Anderson Tapes--sharply directed by Sidney Lumet from the novel by Lawrence Sanders--follows just-out-of-jail Duke Anderson (a balding Sean Connery) as he plots the heist of an entire New York apartment building, enlisting a crew that includes Martin Balsam as a vintage 1971 gay stereotype and a very young Christoper Walken in perhaps the first of his jittery crook roles. The gimmick is that Anderson has been out of circulation so long that he doesn't realizse his mafia backers are only supporting him because they feel nostalgic for the days before they were boring businessmen and that the whole set-up is monitored by a criss-crossing selection of government and private agencies who don't care enough to thwart the robbery, which instead becomes unglued thanks to a spunky handicapped kid-cum-radio ham. With a cool Quincy Jones score, very tight editing, a lot of spot-on cameo performances from the likes of Ralph Meeker as a patient cop, The Anderson Tapes hasn't dated a bit: it's wry without being jokey and suspenseful without feeling contrived. --Kim Newman
Great for 1971 NYC but not much else Other reviews here that say this movie isn't dated are hard to take serious. All I could think of while watching was how many holes there were in the plot that would never be there even 5 years later. Martin Balsam uses his real name and place of business when casing the apartment. They use a dim, alcoholic old-timer to be look-out? They do everything that will guarantee they will get identified. Look I know it was 1971 but this is Sydney Lumet lite and I'm sure he was not proud of this. I remember seeing this movie when I was a kid and thinking that all the taping and surveillance was very cool. Looking at it now it was very amaturish. Having grown up in NYC it was great to see old ny-St. Anthony's Church downtown. The building on 91st St which in this day and age would be lived in by multi-billionaires with hi-tech security. Of course the streets on ny in this movie were deserted (unbelievable). The use of Garret Morris and his crack TPA police squad was also a stretch. This was an enjoyable light movie of it's time that really has dated very badly. Even the acting other than Connery and Balsam is not really good. But...with a post-007 sean and a hot Dyan Cannnon together there is some value in this movie.
Press Play Sean really seems to relish his role as a tough-guy ex-con in this intense caper from the early 70s that holds up nicely. The conceit that everything we're seeing and hearing is culled from various surveillance tapes is a little distracting and doesn't quite work. But Lumet's brisk, no-nonsense take on the action when the heist goes live still delivers. Good NYC locations and Qunicy Jones jazzy score help. The punch card type of the credits and those awful "futuristic" sounding, echoing computer beeps on the soundtrack are what make the picture seem much more dated than it is. Plus Lumet's inclusion of more than a few gay caricatures.
It's fun to see Chris Walken's debut and Dyan is sensationally sexy. Only Alan King's irritating over-acting mars the cast.
Lumet Strikes Again Director Sidney Lumet is impeccable in handling any type of material. What should have been a routine caper film in the hands of Lumet's masterful direction and scenarist Frank Pierson (Oscar for "Dog Day Afternoon" turns into something transcendant. Lumet isn't so much concerned with the caper because it's pretty routine and it's a foregone conclusion how it's going to go down. What distinguishes the film is the terrific dark comedy and great characters. What can you say about a movie whose cast includes everyone from Margaret Hamilton ("The Wizard of Oz") to Garrett Morris("Saturday Night Live")? I particularly liked the work of Judith Lowry whose claim to fame was playing brassy grannies on Seventies sitcoms and plays a similar character here to great effect. Sean Connery is ostensible star but basically his job is to be ringmaster to the circus environment. A real gem and a feather in the cap for director Lumet.
Anderson and Watergate The Anderson Tapes -- like The Conversation -- is amusingly a precusor to the Watergate scandal, the Plumbers Unit, etc. Those the electronic eavesdropping isn't central to the caper, it is all illegal! The end -- I don't wanna spoil it for anyone who hasn't seen this movie. Walken's film debut, this movie (and Diamonds Are Forever) put Sean Connery back in the top ten box office stars for 1971.
TELEPHONE POLICE DISPATCHER IN THIS MOVIE. I BOUGHT THIS DVD,THE ANDERSON TAPES, BECAUSE MY BROTHER WAS A POLICE OFFICER IN ONE OF THE SCENES IN THIS MOVIE.
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