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At first rather annoying in its heavy emphasis on reenactments, this movie ultimately proves fascinating, simply because the complicated, highly dramatic tale it tells still almost defies belief.

It is neither dumb nor smart enough to be fun, and spends way too much time with its boring human characters.

Exactly the movie you think it is, but not the movie you want it to be.

While it doesn't offer any answers, it both thrills and makes you think.

You've never seen David McCallum play a moRe anti-heroic characer than he does in director Brian G. Hutton's above-average narcotics thriller "Sol Madrid." McCallum appears as the eponymous protagonist who works undercover for Interpol and lives to bust drug dealers. Indeed, he believes that he shouldn't have to play by the rules because the bad guys don't. The biggest heroin dealer of them all here is Emil Dietrich. "Dirty Dozen" psycho Telly Savalas is charming as the cigarette-smoking villain who lives high, wide, and handsome in his estate in sunny Acapulco, Mexico. Initially, our hero doesn't have his sights set on the urbane Dietrich. He learns from his superior that the mistress of a Mafioso kingpin, Dano Villanova (Rip Torn of "Men in Black"), has left him. Moreover, the man with a computerized mind who knows everything about the Mafia's account, Harry Mitchell (Pat Hingle of "Hang'em High") has fled from the Mafia, too. At first, Sol's mission is to find Mitchell and persuade him to testify against the Mafia. Stacey Woodward (Stella Stevens of "The Ballad of Cable Hogue"), joined Mitchell for $250-thousand dollars. but she didn't accompnay him to Mexico. Sol Madrid breaks into Woodward's bedroom, surprises her, confiscates her loot, and they head off to see Dietrich and his guest Mitchell. Madrid works his way into Dietrich's confidence when he manages to smuggle heroin into California by means of an oil pipeline. The Interpol agent reels in Dietrich afterward for $25 million. Meanwhile, another Interpol agent working undercover in Acapulco is a smiling dude known as Jalisco (Ricardo Montalban of "Star Trek: The Wrath of Khan"), and he works as a cabbie when he isn't crusading for law and order. Eventually, Madrid is able to persuade Dietrich to sell him heroin on the premises of his house, something that Dietrich had never done before. During the big bust scene, our hero gets into a fight with the villain, and you can guess who survives the confrontation. Sol Madrid emerges as one of those cops who doesn't take prisoners and he isn't afraid of anything. Eventually, he is able to rescue Stacey from the mitts of the mafia. Once the evil Villanova ferrets Stacey out, he incarcerates her in a cabin and gets her hooked on heroin.What sets "Sol Madrid" apart from all of McCallum's other films is the savagery of his character. He exposes a double-agent in one scene and shoots the man at point blank range without a qualm and lets him fall down and die. Later, he tangles with a well-dressed Mafioso and drowns the dastard face down in a muddy pool in Mexico. I don't think that I've ever seen David McCallum play a character as brutal of Sol Madrid, and he displays no remorse for his murderous behavior. "Sol Madrid" was released by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer a year before Hutton made history with Richard Burton and Clint Eastwood in the explosive World War II thriller "Where Eagles Dare." Hutton's next film was "Kelly's Heroes. If you want to see David McCallum as you have never seen him before, check out "Sol Madrid."

David McCallum (Sol Madrid) filmed this movie in Mexico during the summer hiatus of The Man from U.N.C.L.E. in 1967 probably to capitalize on his great popularity in the TV series. From information here, it appears that the movie was not released until after The Man from U.N.C.L.E. was canceled in Jan. '68. I recently saw this film for the first time and enjoyed it very much. Great cast of actors who must have been under contract to MGM at the time, great scenery, good story, tight plot and good pacing. I really feel that MGM made a mistake in not making this into an action/adventure series of movies starring McCallum. Although tame by today's standards, maybe the film was considered too "adult" to be marketed to McCallum's teen fans or maybe it had to do with the timing of its release. Whatever the reason, I think MGM missed out and I would have really enjoyed more "Sol Madrid, Interpol cop" movies.

Beautiful location scenery, an eclectic cast and a fairly pedestrian script add up to an okay crime drama. McCallum plays an undercover drug agent (with the unlikely name of Sol Madrid) who is trying to bring down fat cat kingpin Savalas and mob distributor Torn. He takes Torn's former moll Stevens to Mexico in order to infiltrate Savalas' heavily guarded estate and set up a sting operation on him. Assisting him is Montalban, a U.S. cop who has been working undercover in Mexico for many years and who wants to bring down Hingle, another linchpin in the drug connection. There's a lot of sniping, conspiracy, betrayal and violence along the way as McCallum works to reach his goals. Acapulco locations add a nice touch to the film and there is great, slick acting by Savalas and Montalban. Torn also inhabits his menacing character well. McCallum, however, veers back and forth from a blank nonentity to a petulant child who isn't getting what he wants. His performance is both uneven and uninvolving. Stevens is pretty shrill for much of the time, though she does look great during a lot of the film in her Moss Mabry creations and impossibly thick (faux?) blonde hair. She also allows herself to be seen (virtually) sans makeup in some of her grittier moments. Aside from some witty and authoritative moments with Savalas and a clever (if rather unbelievable) drug smuggling attempt, the film is mostly a drag. It seems a bit aimless and the lead's emotionless demeanor does not invite a lot of investment from the audience. There is a sort of interesting background for the title sequence in which a plant is sliced open and white liquid spews out while the red-lettered credits run. It's a tough, occasionally intriguing film, but one without much emotional payoff or lingering interest.

David McCallum plays the anti-Sam-Spade private eye in this wry latter-day film-noir-esque look at decadence in the late 60's. Telly Savallas and Rip Torn both are wonderful as the antagonists. As good a momento of its period as any film you will ever find.