Dead Heat on a Merry-Go-Round (Columbia Pictures) (1966)

(Mat 2B; Stiil No. 12) James Coburn charms Camilla Sparvy in this scene from "Dead Heat on a Merry-Go-Round," new Columbia Pictures release in Eastman color. The suspense comedy presents Coburn as a hard-working con man whose various characterizations make him almost impossible to trace; every girl he meets gives the police a totally different description of him! Review James Coburn, who proved so delightful a rogue in “Our Man Flint,” is equally infectious and delightful in “Dead Heat on a Merry Go Round,” DeHavenCarter production for Columbia Pictures release in Eastman color at the Theatre. “Dead Heat on a Merry-Go-Round” presents the star as a con man extraordinary, a hard-working character who uses the proceeds of his various schemes to provide him with money for bigger and better operations; seemingly, he never keeps any of it. Equally, he is a charming young man always capable of finding a girl to help him rob a bank; he never keeps any of the girls, either. “Dead Heat on a Merry-GoRound” co-stars Camilla Sparv, as the Boston girl he marries, and abandons when he makes a successful getaway with the loot from a major theft; Aido Ray, as the operator of a sleazy movie theatre whom Coburn enlists in his heist mob; Nina Wayne, as a German maid Coburn seduces in order to obtain easier access to her employer’s home, which he burgles; and Robert Webber and Todd Armstrong, as State Department officials concerned with security measures at Los Angeles International Airport on the arrival of a visiting Soviet Premier, The arrival is happily used by the ineffable Coburn as part of his bank-robbing maneuver. In the course of his build-up to the bank job, Coburn assumes a wide variety of chacterizations, all of them a pleasure to watch. He is a termite exterminator and would-be writer when he romanticizes Miss Sparv, the beautiful Swedish model who formerly was one of this country’s most popular cover girls; he is a shoe clerk with a Swiss background when he attracts the German maid. He is an Australian police officer in America to pick up an extradited prisoner; he is a delegate on his way cross-country to a Knights of Columbus convention; he is a Texas laborer... always, he is the perfect con man. “Dead Heat on a Merry-GoRound” is a “fun” picture, and Coburn’s performance is a major reason for its certain entertainment appeal. Bernard Girard wrote and directed the comedy, Constant Change tm “Dead Heat on a Merry-GoRound,” the Columbia Pictures release at the Theatre in Eastman color, star James Coburn plays a con man whose bank-robbing plans require him to constantly change his personality, nationality and habits of speech. With his chameleon-like changes, there also must be a constantly changing background, in keeping with his newly-assumed way of life. Probably the most absorbing of these scenic changes involves a Middle Eastern cafe, complete with belly dancer! Page 10 Per ee? see det ee Advance Notice James Coburn stars at the pees Bik: Wheatreson™: .« .s-asein “Dead Heat on a Merry-goRound,” new suspense comedy in Eastman color. Co-starred in the Columbia Pictures release are Camilla Sparv, Aldo Ray, Nina Wayne, Robert Webber and Todd Armstrong. Carter DeHaven produced the film, which was written and directed by Bernard Girard. “Dead Heat on a MerryGo-Round” is a DeHaven-Girard production. Nina Wayne Nina Wayne is a screen newcomer whose soft, little-girl voice contrasts delightfully with her long-legged, striking beauty and statuesque 5-foot-9 height. The off-beat voice reportedly adds te the fun of “Dead Heat on a Merry-Go-Round,” in which she plays a trusting housemaid who is romantically victimized by James Coburn at the Theatre, in Eastman color. Also co-starred with Miss Wayne in the Columbia Pictures release are Camilla Sparv, Aldo Ray, Robert Webber and Todd Armstrong. A native of Lincoln Wood, a suburb of Chicago, Nina is the second daughter of a trucking executive and a mother who had been a ballet dancer and who was determined her two girls should have careers in show business. She began giving them skating and dancing lessons as soon as they were able to walk, and even after they were enrolled in North Park Private Academy, she would drive Nina and her sister, Carol, to an ice skating rink for two hours of earlymorning practice, and she arranged for them to take afternoon ballet lessons at school instead of the required gym work, When Nina graduated from school, her mother talked the Ice Capades into hiring both girls for a featured sister act. The team broke up when Carol, doing a tricky entrance, slipped and broke her knee cap. Nina continued with the company as a single but, at the end of the second year, left the show to dance at the Desert Inn in Las Vegas. She went from there to Lake Tahoe.and, in time, she joined Van Johnson’s show at the Latin Quarter in New York as both a show girl and lead dancer. One night, Johnson arranged for Nina to go on the Johnny Carson television show. She was seen by David Swift, producerwriter-director of such hits as “Under the Yum Yum Tree” and “Good Neighbor Sam,” who was then preparing a new series for television, “Camp Runamuck.” Swift wired the buxom Miss Wayne an offer to appear in it as a counsellor, “Dead Heat on a Merry-GoRound” was written and directed by Bernard Girard, and produced by Carter DeHaven. ee reese The heroes of today’s movies are anything but the matinee idols of yesterday. They are as off beat in their looks, in fact, as the roles in which they appear. James Coburn, for example, has a rough-hewn face and great personal magnetism, both just right for the anti-hero sort of role that he plays in “Dead Heat on A Merry-Go-Round,” the Columbia Pictures release at the a Wee Ore in Eastman color. In the suspense comedy, which concerns the ingenious robbery of a Los Angeles airport bank just as a plane carrying a Soviet premier on an official visit is touching down, Coburn plays a smooth-talking confidence man who charms girls only to dump them once they no longer are useful to his schemes. As a con man, he assumes a wide variety of characterizations and dialects in singleminded pursuit of his bank-heist objective. Now hot as a fire cracker in motion picture circles as a result of his performance in “Our Man Flint,” in which he played a domestic James Bond sort of character, Coburn likes to feel that his career can now take off in the same general direction as that of Humphrey Bogart or James Cagney. “They were the good bad guys,” he continued. “Rough, tough individuals attractive to women, And, like me, they were character actors before they became stars.” Also, like them, Coburn turned to pictures only after receiving a thorough grounding in his craft on the stage, starting with a summer theater production of “Billy Budd” in La Jolla after graduating from Los Angeles City College. The Nebraska-born Coburn found sporadic work in television commercials. Coburn quickly became established in live television shows, served as resident leading man with a summer theater in Detroit, and then tackled Hollywood. Following a series of minor TV appearances, Coburn was given his first motion picture part in “Ride Lonesome,” a Western starring Randolph Scott at Columbia. This initial film credit won him bigger featured roles in television and in films. His work in “The Magnificent Seven” and “The Great Escape,” led Coburn to featured roles in “Charade,” “The Americanization of Emily,” “The Loved One,” and “Major Dundee.” Then came stardom, with “Our Man Flint,” “What Did You Do In The War, Daddy?” and now, “Dead Heat on A Merry-Go-Round.” “Dead Heat on a Merry-GoRound” was written and directed by Bernard Girard, and produced by Carter DeHaven. The DeHaven-Girard production costars Camilla Sparv, Aldo Ray, Nina Wayne, Robert Webber and Todd Armstrong. (Mat IB; Still No. 11) James Coburn arranges a special meeting with his bank heist mob, in this scene from the new suspense comedy, "Dead Heat on a Merry-Go-Round," a Columbia Pictures release in Eastman color. He plays a charming rogue always able to find a girl who will help him rob a bank even if he must marry her first. (Mat 2A; Still No. 19) As a shoe salesman, James Coburn meets —and attracts—young women working in wealthy homes; as a con man extraordinary in "Dead Heat on a Merry-Go-Round," he is able to burglarize them safely, Here, Coburn is charming lovely Nina Wayne. A suspense comedy in Eastman color, ''Dead Heat on a Merry-Go-Round" is a Columbia Pictures release. Likes His Role General Advance == Now that he’s a star, as a result of his performance in “Our Man Flint,” James Coburn is able to pick and choose his assignments, “and if I fall on my face, I’ve got nobody else to blame.” He prefers it that way. Which is one reason Coburn enjoyed his work in “Dead Heat on a Merry-Go-Round,” the comedy thriller at the ...... Theatre in Eastman color, as a charming rogue who can always find a girl to help him rob a bank, Costarred in his support are Camilla Sparv, Aldo Ray, Nina Wayne, Robert Webber and Todd Armstrong. The film, a Columbia Pictures release, was written and directed by Bernard Girard and produced by Carter DeHaven. In “Dead Heat on a Merry-GoRound,” Coburn says, “I play five different variations of the same character. I’m a conman, wanted for violation of my parole, and to elude the police I have to adopt these disguises.” In addition to the con man characterization, Coburn appears in the film as a Swiss shoe clerk, a Russian-Jewish writer, a Texas ranch hand, a _ delegate en route to a Knights of Columbus convention and an Australian peace officer. “The parts were all so beautifully written that each one emerges as a separate personality.” Coburn plans to start producing pictures under his own banner. Though he likes acting, Coburn is anything but a ham. He wants his films to say something pertinent and honest about their subjects and, in purchasing his properties, the stress will always be on content. Crook's Tour Filming “Dead Heat on a Merry-Go-Round,” the comedy of a charming rogue who can always find a girl to help him rob a bank, was virtually a crook’s tour of America for star James Coburn. The Columbia Pictures release, now at the ........ Theatre in Eastman color, moves from a California prison to the Los Angeles International Airport, to Denver, to Boston, back to Los Angeles, to Tucson and, with Coburn’s successful getaway, to points unknown. Historic Boston landmarks providing backgrounds for the film include the Old North Church, Paul Revere Square, Boston Commons, Louisburg, Square, Boston Gardens and Harvard University. Estates at Hamilton and Ipswich provide palatial home settings, and various other sites include the St. Charles River, the New Sheraton Hotel, Logan Airport and the Top of the Hub restaurant. Co-starred in “Dead Heat on a Merry-Go-Round” are Camilla Sparv, Aldo Ray, Nina Wayne, Robert Webber and Todd Armstrong. Carter DeHaven served as producer of the DeHavenGirard production, which was written and directed by Bernard Girard. James Coburn, who zoomed to spectacular stardom as “Our Man Flint,” returns to the ..... Theatre screen on ....... in a film which allows free play to his breezy, hard-bitten personality. The picture is called “Dead Heat on a Merry-Go-Round,” a Columbia Pictures release in Eastman color. Coburn plays a charming rogue always able to find a girl to help him rob a bank. According to Hollywood report, ‘Dead Heat on a Merry-GoRound” is more than a mere crime thriller; it is a mirthful and memorable study of a dedicated con man, Coburn, in the course of his preparations for a bank robbery—set to take place at the Los Angeles International Airport in the midst of the confusion created by the arrival of a visiting Soviet premier—assumes a considerable number of personalities: he plays a shoe clerk with a Swiss background in order to seduce a German maid, first step in robbing her employer; he plays a still unpublished would-be writer, an Australian polic officer, an affable delegate to a Knights of Columbus convention, a termite exterminator And through all his varied characterizations, he remains the single-minded, hardplanning and hard-working leader of a heist mob. Even the girl he marries, while posing as a writer, is unknowingly involved in his schemes. Camilla Sparv, beautiful Swedish photographer’s model who made her film bow as a nun in “The Trouble With Angels,” here plays the Boston girl whom Coburn weds, when he decides marriage can help him advance his bank-robbing project. Nina Wayne makes a delightful debut as the buxom German blonde who is an early romantic victim of the charming Mr. Coburn. Aldo Ray also is co-starred, as a sleazy theatre operator who joins Coburn’s band, as are Robert Webber and Todd Armstrong, as State Department officials. “Dead Heat on a Merry-GoRound” is a DeHaven-Carter production. Bernard Girard wrote and directed the film, and Carter DeHaven served as producer. Robert Webber E ——2=— = — Robert Webber flew from Rome to play the role of a State Department official in the DeHaven-Girard production, “Dead Heat on a Merry-Go-Round,” which stars James Coburn at GOs sc ren ns in Eastman color. Co-starred in the Columbia Pictures release are Camilla Sparv, Aldo Ray, Nina Wayne and Todd Armstrong. Webber, who recently played a prominent role with Dean Martin in “The Silencers,” had just concluded an American guest star role in an Italian film when he returned to America for the new comedy suspense film. He was also featured recently with Paul Newman in “Harper” and in “The Third Day.”