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Good story, Not enough for a whole film

It's a good bad... and worth a popcorn matinée. While it's easy to lament what could have been...

Strong acting helps the film overcome an uncertain premise and create characters that hold our attention absolutely.

It's simply great fun, a winsome film and an occasionally over-the-top luxury fantasy that never flags.

not one person complained about the ability to see ANY markings 6feet away on a 5card fan... oh well, no poker players reviewing here and the fact that he was always dealing in the "Bunko" game was problematic... very plodding angst less scene after scene save for the wondrous views of the famous world casinos, have been to many and savour the opulence with the crowning moments in that Dominion Castle!! where did they find that gem... Angel was cute not seXy like other Beatty co-stars ala Julie C. but intelligent design was uneven... i.e. throwing the gun away during a fight saying she just doesn't like guns, fighting, but death is just A OK???!!! with low expectations for any redeeming value in script excitement I can only recommend for location shots... superbe!

Robert and Jean Carrington wrote this story and the movie version is directed by Jack Smight. It tells the story of handsome Barney Lincoln (Warren Beatty) a suave and debonair playboy who creates a most ingenious plan to rob the most prestigious European casinos in Europe. He does this by 'marking' the original manufacturing plate design for playing cards. Thus when he plays in the very best casinos, he has an edge. Unbeknown to Mr. Lincoln, British police Inspector 'Manny' McGinnis (Clive Revill) has discovered his secret and convinces him to help bankrupt Harry Dominion (Eric Porter), a dangerous and notorious drug smuggler by playing cards with him. Risking his life and that of Angel McGinnis (Susannah York) his ditsy girlfriend, both play dangerously close to a man quite capable of murdering them. What Lincoln does not anticipate is that Dominion will play with Unmarked cards. This charming and delightful film is one of Beatty's best and one which is certain to become a fun Classic for all audiences. Easilly recommended. ****

When producer Charles K. Feldman was asked why his 1967 film of 'Casino Royale' deviated so wildly from the source material, he replied that the Eon movies had already swiped most of it. He could have said instead that Jack Smight's 'Kaleidoscope', released the year before, was an even more blatant steal of Fleming's first book. Warren Beatty plays 'Barney Lincoln', an American playboy who devises the perfect 'get rich quick' plan. Breaking into the Kaleidoscope playing card factory in Geneva, he carefully marks the printing plates. The doctored cards head for Europe's top casinos. With the beautiful 'Angel McGinnis' ( Susannah York ) in tow, Lincoln breaks the banks, and soon amasses a considerable fortune.But his unlawful activities bring him to the attention of New Scotland Yard. 'Inspector Manny McGinnis' ( Angel's father ) wants him to bankrupt the sinister head of a narcotics ring called 'Harry Dominion' ( Eric Porter ). The means? A game of poker. Facing a lengthy jail sentence, Barney reluctantly agrees.Robert and Jane Howard-Carrington's script is a more faithful version of Fleming's book than either the 1967 all-star spoof or Martin Campbell's 2006 retread. Porter gleefully hams it up as 'Dominion', a villain straight out of Bond, particularly as he has a Napoleonic complex. There's a tense scene as he teases his men with the revelation that there is a traitor in their midst. Taking one of them ( George Murcell ) to a cellar, he retreats as the unfortunate man is incinerated with a flame-thrower.Beatty has never been one of my favourite actors ( and no, I'm not just jealous of his legendary sexual conquests ), but the role of 'Barney' at least allows him to be funny and charming in a Cary Grant sort of way. As sexy boutique owner 'Angel', Susannah York makes the most of a stock 'love interest' character. For me the real star is Clive Revill as the steam engine-loving police officer McGinnis. an 'Avengers' style eccentric to be sure. Murray Melvin ( from 'A Taste Of Honey' ) is also good as sharp shooting 'Aimes'. The fine supporting cast includes the late George Sewell, Yootha Joyce, Peter Blythe, and John Junkin. Jane 'Blow-Up' Birkin puts in a 'blink and you'll miss it' appearance.'Kaleidoscope' is one of those American-funded ( Winkast Productions also made Alistair Maclean adaptations such as 'When Eight Bells Toll' ) pictures which exploited the Swinging London phenomenon of the time. Maurice Binder's title sequence offers a picture postcard view of the capital seen through the afore-mentioned novelty toy. Fortunately, arch scenes like the one in which Barney romances Angel in a field at night while she is perched on a cow are few and far between. Stanley Myers' chirpy music keeps the proceedings nicely afloat, with a sitar accompanying psychedelic scene breaks of the sort later parodied by the awful 'Austin Powers' films. Jack Smight later made the cult film of Ray Bradbury's 'The Illustrated Man'.Unlike 'Casino Royale', there's no big torture scene here, although Barney gets his legs hit at one stage with ( ironically ) a poker. Though not a spy film, 'Kaleidoscope' owes enough to the Bond series to make it required viewing for fans.

"Kaleidoscope" drifts through like a pleasant breeze. Allow yourself five minutes with this light comedy, and you're hooked. Set in 1960's Swinging London and Europe, the film was directed by an American, Jack Smight, in an abstract style that deliberately calls attention to itself. The dialogue is amusing repartee; and the performers seem so offbeat they exist as near comic-book characters. If a viewer feels distanced, then the film's creators have succeeded. It's all pretty much at the same level as that quintessential Sixties caper, "Modesty Blaise" (1966), only a bit less refined and a tad more square.Warren Beatty stars as a card-cheating playboy with romantic pretensions. Before "Kaleidoscope," Beatty had acted in only one other film comedy ("Promise Her Anything," with Leslie Caron). Here, he comes on a little heavy-handed at first, but he soon settles in with the other performers, including Eric Porter, a powerful presence in the role of a sociopathic Mr. Big with a dreadful Napoleon-complex.The movie's high notes arrive on cue. The climax is a high-stakes, winner-take-all poker game, and it's a tight, suspenseful scene. Its resolution will leave you breathless, admiring the good, low-keyed humor of the whole affair. The film's denouement, a kidnap-and-rescue sequence, is almost as clever. This film is not High Art -- not by any stretch of our good will or imagination. But there's nothing wrong with taking pleasure from well-made fluff, especially if we realize the genre's built-in limitations. "Kaleidoscope" is great fun because, like its gambler/hero, it doesn't always play by the rules.With Susannah York as Beatty's chic companion, a Carnaby Street shopowner, and Clive Revill as her Scotland Yard inspector/father.