52 Pick-Up
Encyclopedia
52 Pick-Up is a 1986 crime thriller film directed by John Frankenheimer
. The film stars Roy Scheider
and Ann-Margret
and is based on Elmore Leonard's novel of the same name.
whose wife is running for city council while he is having an affair. Harry is confronted by three blackmailers demanding $105,000 for a videotape of him and his mistress, Cini.
Because of his wife Barbara's political aspirations, he can't go to the police. Harry's lawyer advises him that paying the blackmailers won't likely make them go away, so he refuses to pay. The criminals up the ante by murdering Cini and framing Harry for the murder, demanding $105,000 a year for the rest of his life to keep the evidence they have on him under wraps.
Harry opens his financial records to one of them with a background in accounting, Alan Raimy. Seeing that their mark owes money to the government and cannot afford the $105,000, Raimy agrees to accept Harry's counter offer of $52,000, at least as a first payment. Harry then turns the blackmailers against one another, putting his wife's life in grave danger in the process.
film critic Janet Maslin
as being "...fast-paced, lurid, exploitative and loaded with malevolent energy. John Frankenheimer, who directed, hasn't done anything this darkly entertaining since 'Black Sunday.'"
John Frankenheimer
John Michael Frankenheimer was an American film and television director known for social dramas and action/suspense films...
. The film stars Roy Scheider
Roy Scheider
Roy Richard Scheider was an American actor. He was best known for his leading role as police chief Martin C...
and Ann-Margret
Ann-Margret
Ann-Margret Olsson is a Swedish-American actress, singer and dancer whose professional name is Ann-Margret. She became famous for her starring roles in Bye Bye Birdie, Viva Las Vegas, The Cincinnati Kid, Carnal Knowledge, and Tommy...
and is based on Elmore Leonard's novel of the same name.
Plot
Harry Mitchell is a successful industrialist living in the suburbs of Los AngelesLos Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
whose wife is running for city council while he is having an affair. Harry is confronted by three blackmailers demanding $105,000 for a videotape of him and his mistress, Cini.
Because of his wife Barbara's political aspirations, he can't go to the police. Harry's lawyer advises him that paying the blackmailers won't likely make them go away, so he refuses to pay. The criminals up the ante by murdering Cini and framing Harry for the murder, demanding $105,000 a year for the rest of his life to keep the evidence they have on him under wraps.
Harry opens his financial records to one of them with a background in accounting, Alan Raimy. Seeing that their mark owes money to the government and cannot afford the $105,000, Raimy agrees to accept Harry's counter offer of $52,000, at least as a first payment. Harry then turns the blackmailers against one another, putting his wife's life in grave danger in the process.
Cast
- Roy ScheiderRoy ScheiderRoy Richard Scheider was an American actor. He was best known for his leading role as police chief Martin C...
as Harry Mitchell - Ann-MargretAnn-MargretAnn-Margret Olsson is a Swedish-American actress, singer and dancer whose professional name is Ann-Margret. She became famous for her starring roles in Bye Bye Birdie, Viva Las Vegas, The Cincinnati Kid, Carnal Knowledge, and Tommy...
as Barbara Mitchell - VanityVanity (performer)Denise Katrina Matthews , better known as Vanity, but sometimes credited as Denise Matthews-Smith or D.D. Winters, is a Canadian-born former singer, songwriter, dancer, actress, and model from the 1980s until the early mid-90s...
as Doreen - John GloverJohn Glover (actor)John Soursby Glover Jr. is an American actor, perhaps best known for a range of villainous roles in films and television, including Lionel Luthor on the Superman-inspired television series Smallville.-Personal life:...
as Alan Raimy - Clarence Williams IIIClarence Williams IIIClarence Williams III is an American actor.-Early life:Williams was born in New York City. His grandfather was Clarence Williams, the jazz pianist and composer. He was raised by his grandmother.-Career:...
as Bobby Shy - Kelly PrestonKelly PrestonKelly Preston is an American actress and former model.- Early years :Preston was born Kelly Kamalelehua Smith in Honolulu, Hawaii. Her mother, Linda, was an administrator of a mental health center, and her father, who worked for an agricultural firm, drowned when Preston was three years old...
as Cini - Robert TreborRobert TreborRobert Trebor is an American character actor, perhaps best known for his role as "Salmoneus" on the cult hits Hercules: The Legendary Journeys and Xena: Warrior Princess...
as Leo Franks - Doug McClureDoug McClureDouglas Osborne "Doug" McClure was an American actor whose career in film and television extended from the 1950s to the 1990s...
as Mark Arveson
Novel vs. film
The film is regarded as reasonably close to Elmore Leonard's original novel, except that it is set in Los Angeles instead of Detroit. Also, in the novel the Harry Mitchell character is having problems with the labor force at his business in addition to the main blackmail/kidnap plot.Reception
It was characterized in the year of its release by The New York TimesThe New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
film critic Janet Maslin
Janet Maslin
Janet Maslin is an American journalist, best known as a film and literary critic for The New York Times. She served as the Times film critic from 1977–1999.- Biography :...
as being "...fast-paced, lurid, exploitative and loaded with malevolent energy. John Frankenheimer, who directed, hasn't done anything this darkly entertaining since 'Black Sunday.'"
External links
- 52 Pick-up at The Numbers