Lady in Cement

{{Infobox film

| name = Lady in Cement

| image = Ladyincementposter.jpg

| caption = Theatrical release poster

| director = Gordon Douglas

| producer = Aaron Rosenberg

| screenplay = {{plainlist|

Marvin H. Albert
Jack Guss

}}

| based_on = {{based on|The Lady in Cement
1961 novel|Marvin H. Albert}}

| starring = {{plainlist|

}}

| music = Hugo Montenegro

| cinematography = Joseph Biroc

| editing = Robert Simpson

| studio = Arcola Pictures

| distributor = 20th Century Fox

| released = {{film date|1968|11|20}}

| runtime = 94 minutes

| country = United States

| language = English

| budget = $3.6 millionSolomon, Aubrey. Twentieth Century Fox: A Corporate and Financial History (The Scarecrow Filmmakers Series). Lanham, MD: Scarecrow Press, 1989. {{ISBN|978-0-8108-4244-1}}. p255

| gross =

}}

Lady in Cement is a 1968 American neo-noirSilver, Alain; Ward, Elizabeth; eds. (1992). Film Noir: An Encyclopedic Reference to the American Style (3rd ed.). Woodstock, NY: The Overlook Press. {{ISBN|0-87951-479-5}} mystery crime comedy thriller film directed by Gordon Douglas, based on the 1961 novel The Lady in Cement by Marvin H. Albert. The film stars Frank Sinatra, Raquel Welch, Dan Blocker, Richard Conte, Martin Gabel, Lainie Kazan, and Pat Henry.

A sequel to the 1967 film Tony Rome, Lady in Cement was released on November 20, 1968.

Plot

While diving off the Miami coast seeking one of the 11 fabled Spanish galleons sunk in 1591, private investigator Tony Rome discovers a dead woman, her feet encased in cement (concrete), at the bottom of the ocean.

Rome reports this to Lieutenant Dave Santini and thinks nothing more of the incident, until Waldo Gronsky hires him to find a missing woman, Sondra Lomax. Gronsky has little money, so he allows Rome to pawn his watch to retain his services. Eventually, Gronsky admits that he just got out of prison because Sondra Lomax identified him as the perpetrator of a crime, which is why he hired Rome to find her.

After investigating the local hotspots and picking up on a few names, Rome soon comes across Kit Forrest, whose party Sondra Lomax was supposed to have attended. Rome's talking to Forrest raises the ire of racketeer Al Mungar, a supposedly reformed gangster who looks after Kit's interests. Mungar, his son, and some goons warn Rome off the case.

Rome is able to identify Lomax as the lady in cement by an artist who used her as a model. As he gets closer to solving the case, he eventually becomes a suspect and has to evade capture by Lt. Santini. Mungar is revealed to be a figurehead, and his son is the real muscle in the organization. He reveals that he killed Sondra and everyone who got in his way. He is about to kill Kit when Gronsky overpowers him. They call Santini, and the film closes with Kit and Tony together on his boat.

Cast

File:Raquel Welch Frank Sinatra Lady in Cement.jpg]]

Frank Sinatra as Tony Rome
Raquel Welch as Kit Forrest
Dan Blocker as Gronsky
Richard Conte as Lt. Santini
Martin Gabel as Al Mungar
Lainie Kazan as Maria Baretto
Pat Henry as Rubin
Richard Deacon as Arnie Sherwin
Alex Stevens as Shev
Bunny Yeager as Bunny Fjord - Swedish masseuse

Production

The film was based on a novel published in 1961, which The New York Times called "ingenuous".{{Cite news|title=Criminals at large|author=A. B.|date=June 4, 1961|work=The New York Times|id={{ProQuest|115449613}}}}

Following the success of Tony Rome, Aaron Rosenberg hired Marvin Albert to adapt Cement for Sinatra. The actor made it after The Detective.{{cite news|author=Martin, B.|title='Caper' for faye dunaway.|date=June 5, 1967|work=Los Angeles Times|id={{ProQuest|155789349}}}} Raquel Welch's casting was announced in June 1967.{{cite news|author=Dorothy Manners|date=June 30, 1967|title=Raquel welch to costar with sinatra|work=The Washington Post and Times-Herald|id={{ProQuest|143211118}}}}

Sammy Davis Jr was to have appeared in the film as the charter-boat captain.{{cite news|title=Sammy davis to costar with sinatra. |date=January 6, 1968|work=The Washington Post and Times-Herald|id={{ProQuest|143516569}}}} Sinatra fell ill, though, and filming was postponed for four weeks. Davis was replaced by Pat Henry in the final film.{{cite news|author=Harford, M.|date=March 6, 1968|title='SWEET CHARITY' ROLE.|work=Los Angeles Times|id={{ProQuest|155915617}}}}

Dan Blocker was given time away from Bonanza to play his part. When Rome tracks down Gronski to the seedy massage parlor he owns, Dan Blocker is shown watching a TV which is blaring the Bonanza theme. The movie gave an early role to Lainie Kazan.{{cite news|author=Rose, B.|date=June 8, 1968|title=Miss kazan weighs love-career choice|work=Los Angeles Times|id={{ProQuest|155947940}}}}

Welch later said she did not realize her character was an alcoholic until after filming wrapped. "I'm watching this movie and I'm thinking, 'What the hell has she got on?' At one point, I had this epiphany: 'Oh, she's an alcoholic!' I didn't know that. How could I miss that?... I think I was just so enamored with Frank Sinatra, you know. He's hypnotic."{{cite news|author=Wenn.|date=April 10, 2017|title=Raquel Welch: 'I was awful in Sinatra film'|access-date=April 15, 2017|url=http://www.tv3.ie/xpose/article/entertainment-news/236582/Raquel-Welch-I-was-awful-in-Sinatra-film|website=XPOSÉ.ie}}

Filming started in March 1968. Before and during filming, Sinatra was performing at the Fontainebleau in Miami over a six-week period. Welch went to watch him, and found the experience so inspiring, she determined to continue to perform to live audiences in her career.{{cite news|title=Raquel welch: 'I like a character with backbone'|author=G. C.|date=May 30, 1982|work=The New York Times|id={{ProQuest|121982606}}}}

Reception

=Box office=

According to Fox records, the film required $7,150,000 in rentals to break even, and by December 11, 1970, had made $6,825,000, which made a loss for the studio.{{cite book|page=[https://archive.org/details/foxthatgotawayt00silv/page/327 327]|title=The Fox that got away : the last days of the Zanuck dynasty at Twentieth Century-Fox|url=https://archive.org/details/foxthatgotawayt00silv|url-access=registration|last=Silverman|first=Stephen M|year=1988|publisher=L. Stuart|isbn=9780818404856 }}

=Critical reception=

Opening to mixed reviews, Lady in Cement is generally considered to be a middling sequel to Tony Rome. Critic Roger Ebert gave faint praise in a generally scathing review by commenting: "In the movie's few good scenes, Sinatra once again painfully reminds us what a controlled, effective actor he is."{{cite web |last1=Ebert |first1=Roger |authorlink=Roger Ebert |title=Lady in Cement |url=https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/lady-in-cement-1968 |website=RogerEbert.com |date=December 3, 1968}} Variety described Sinatra's character as being "on the trail of people in whom there couldn't be less interest", Raquel Welch "adds her limited, but beauteous contribution", and Dan Blocker "is excellent as a sympathetic heavy".{{cite web |author=Variety Staff |title=Lady in Cement |url=https://variety.com/1967/film/reviews/lady-in-cement-1200421613/ |website=Variety |date=December 31, 1968}}

Home media

Lady in Cement was released on DVD on May 24, 2005, as part of a boxed set along with Tony Rome and The Detective, both also directed by Douglas. No bonus features were included.[http://www.dvdtimes.co.uk/content.php?contentid=57693 Review of the DVD Release by DVD Times]

References

External links

{{commons category-inline}}
{{IMDb title|id=0063210|title=Lady in Cement}}
[https://www.allmovie.com/movie/lady-in-cement-am46694 Lady in Cement at AllMovie]
{{TCMDb title|id=80651}}
{{AFI film|id=23660|title=Lady in Cement}}

Category:1968 films

Category:1968 comedy films

Category:1968 crime films

Category:1960s comedy thriller films

Category:1960s crime thriller films

Category:1968 LGBTQ-related films

Category:1960s mystery thriller films

Category:20th Century Fox films

Category:American comedy thriller films

Category:American crime thriller films

Category:American detective films

Category:American LGBTQ-related films