A Step Out of Line (1971) Online

I'm surprised that no one has commented on this one (although TV movies that came along before the "docu-drama" craze are often neglected, even the best ones). This was more like a regular drama, disguised as a suspense film. In a superficial way, this movie resembles "Ocean's Eleven" - the characters are war veterans (though in this story, that really has nothing to do with carrying out the robbery), and it has one of the same actors, Peter Lawford. It took me a long while to realize this, but Peter Falk does some of the same things to be dramatic that he does to be funny, and it works either way, like the repetition he uses when trying to talk Vic Morrow into the burglary (one of the same things that makes Columbo such a funny pest, makes this character deadly serious). And Vic Morrow was great also. As was Jo Ann Pflug, in a much smaller part. But as much as I've always liked the actor himself, I think John Randolph's "embittered cop" character was a little overdone (some of his lines, I mean, not his acting). One of the few even slightly comical lines was one of Lawford's. When he hears the amount of money they can expect, he gives a long, "appreciative" look and says, "Man, that's a lotta bread." Many people might think that EVERYONE went around saying things like that in 1971, but actually it would've sounded as "forced" THEN as NOW, coming from countless people. But a Peter Lawford can carry off a line like that, and make it sound perfectly natural! But for the most part, he's as serious as the other two. Anyway, they were all three very good in it.

I saw 'A Step Out Of Line' on a daytime rerun at some point in the 1990's, and thereafter had a hard time proving it existed. When I wanted to see It again, it seemed to have fallen off the radar entirely. It isn't listed in Leonard Maltin's 'Movie Guide'. Katz's 'Film Encyclopedia' does not list it in the filmographies of Peter Falk or Peter Lawford. I was able to verify its existence only after getting a computer, getting online, and finding my way around the IMDb. Now I've tracked it down, and there seems to be no way to seeing it again. Nobody seems to be showing it.

But I remember very well why I liked it, and why I want to see it again. I'm a big fan of "gather the crew and let's caper" plots (CF 'The Magnificent Seven', 'Ocean's Eleven', etc). This story is a good example of the type, but it is one of the noirish ones.

***SPOILERS*** A group of ageing men getting close to what should be retirement age do not feel they have the financial resources they actually need. The Peter Falk character is especially stressed because of the medical needs of his sickly father. Peter Lawford, post-Kennedy years, post- Rat Pack, gives a good performance as a man who had expected to be much more solvent at this point in his life. They gather some like-minded partners and target an armored-car company on a long weekend, when the place is closed. Things go wrong. They end up with not enough money to solve their problems, and with the police closing in. The Falk character is especially pitiable. He's going to prison, and his father is going to be a charity case.

I don't feel too badly about the spoilers here. It looks like no one is ever again going to be able to view this very good story.