''Dead Heat on a Merry-Go-Round'' is a 1966

crime film Crime films, in the broadest sense, is a film genre inspired by and analogous to the crime fiction literary genre. Films of this genre generally involve various aspects of crime and its detection. Stylistically, the genre may overlap and combine ...

written and directed by

Bernard Girard Bernard Girard (February 22, 1918 – December 30, 1997) was an American screenwriter, producer and film director. Life and career A native of Vallejo, Girard served in the United States Army Air Forces during World War II. He was nominated fo ...

, and starring

James Coburn James Harrison Coburn III (August 31, 1928 – November 18, 2002) was an American film and television actor who was featured in more than 70 films, largely action roles, and made 100 television appearances during a 45-year career.AllmoviBi ...

Camilla Sparv Camilla Sparv (born 3 June 1943) is a Swedish actress. Career Sparv was born in Stockholm, Sweden, on 3 June 1943. She was awarded a Golden Globe as Most Promising Newcomer (female) in 1967 for her role opposite James Coburn in ''Dead Heat on a ...

Aldo Ray Aldo Ray (born Aldo Da Re; September 25, 1926 – March 27, 1991) was an American actor of film and television. He began his career as a contract player for Columbia Studios before achieving stardom through his roles in '' The Marrying Kind ...

Nina Wayne Nina may refer to: * Nina (name), a feminine given name and surname Acronyms *National Iraqi News Agency, a news service in Iraq *Norwegian Institute for Nature Research, on the campus of Norwegian University of Science and Technology *No income, n ...

Todd Armstrong Todd Armstrong (born John Harris Armstrong; July 25, 1937 – November 17, 1992) was an American actor who appeared in ten films and several television series. He is best known for playing the titular role in the cult classic '' Jason and the A ...

Robert Webber Robert Laman Webber (October 14, 1924 – May 19, 1989) was an American actor. He appeared in dozens of films and television series, roles that included Juror No. 12 in the 1957 film ''12 Angry Men''. Early life Webber was born in Santa Ana, ...

Rose Marie Rose Marie (born Rose Marie Mazzetta; August 15, 1923 – December 28, 2017) was an American actress, singer, comedian, and vaudeville performer with a career ultimately spanning nine decades, which included film, radio, records, theater, night ...

and

Harrison Ford Harrison Ford (born July 13, 1942) is an American actor. His films have grossed more than $5.4billion in North America and more than $9.3billion worldwide, making him the seventh-highest-grossing actor in North America. He is the recipient o ...

in his film debut.

Plot

Con man Eli Kotch (

) charms his way into a parole by playing on the emotions of a pretty psychologist (

Marian McCargo Marian McCargo Bell (March 18, 1932 – April 7, 2004) was an American actress and champion tennis player who later found success in film and television roles. She was sometimes credited as Marian Moses. Early life and education McCargo gradua ...

), but drops her at the first opportunity to move around the country, romancing women and then stealing their possessions, or those of their employers. He's made a down payment on the blueprints to a bank at

Los Angeles International Airport Los Angeles International Airport , commonly referred to as LAX (with each letter pronounced individually), is the primary international airport serving Los Angeles, California and its surrounding metropolitan area. LAX is located in the W ...

, but needs to raise $85,000 to complete the purchase. In Boston, he seduces and marries Inger Knudsen (

), the secretary of a wealthy elderly woman. Eli sends her to L.A. to set up housekeeping, on the pretext that a songwriter there is interested in his poetry. Meanwhile, he burgles another woman (

) to get the final amount of money he needs. Eli heads to L.A., where he begins to assemble his gang (

Severn Darden Severn Teakle Darden Jr. (November 9, 1929 – May 27, 1995) was an American comedian and actor, and a founding member of The Second City Chicago-based comedy troupe as well as its predecessor, the Compass Players. He is known from his film appe ...

and

Michael Strong Michael Strong (born Cecil Natapoff; February 8, 1918 – September 17, 1980)California Death Index and Social Security Death Index, accessed on Ancestry.com was an American stage, film and television actor. Early life Michael Strong was bor ...

) for the bank robbery, which is timed to take place while the airport is distracted by the arrival of the Premier of the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...

. To keep her occupied, Eli sends Inger to take

Polaroid Polaroid may refer to: * Polaroid Corporation, an American company known for its instant film and cameras * Polaroid camera, a brand of instant camera formerly produced by Polaroid Corporation * Polaroid film, instant film, and photographs * Polar ...

snapshots around L.A., supposedly for a magazine article he is writing. Using costumes stolen from a movie studio, he and one of the gang masquerade as an Australian policeman escorting an extradited prisoner in order to get through airport security, while the other two dress as

LAPD The Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD), officially known as the City of Los Angeles Police Department, is the municipal police department of Los Angeles, California. With 9,974 police officers and 3,000 civilian staff, it is the third-large ...

policemen to get into the bank, bypass the alarm, and get a bank employee to open the safe. The gang pulls off the heist and makes a successful getaway to Mexico on a plane. Eli has no idea that Inger has been frantically trying to get in touch with him, because she has inherited $7 million from her former employer.

Cast

as Eli Kotch *

as Inger Knudson *

as Eddie Hart *

as Frieda Schmid *

as Milo Stewart *

as Margaret Kirby *

as Dr. Marion Hague *

as Paul Feng *

as Miles Fisher *

James Westerfield James A. Westerfield (March 22, 1913 – September 20, 1971) was an American character actor of stage, film, and television. Early years Westerfield was born in Nashville, Tennessee, to candy-maker Brasher Omier Westerfield and his wife D ...

as Jack Balter *

Phillip Pine Phillip Pine (July 16, 1920 – December 22, 2006) was an American film and television actor, writer, film director, and producer. Despite incorrect biographical information repeated on many entertainment sites, he was not related to Robert P ...

as George Logan * Simon Scott as William Anderson *

as a bellhop (uncredited) ;Cast notes: *Sparv was named "New Female Star of the Year" by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association.Allmovi
Awards
/ref>

Production

Working titles for this film were "Eli Kotch" and "The Big Noise".TC
Notes
/ref> The actual title used, ''Dead Heat on a Merry-Go-Round'' appears in the film as the novel being written by Coburn's character under the pseudonym of "Henry Silverstein". ''Dead Heat on a Merry-Go-Round'' was later used as the title of a book of short stories written by Japanese author

Haruki Murakami is a Japanese writer. His novels, essays, and short stories have been bestsellers in Japan and internationally, with his work translated into 50 languages and having sold millions of copies outside Japan. He has received numerous awards for his ...

and first published in 1985. Location shooting took place in

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

and Los Angeles, including at

References

External links

* *{{rotten-tomatoes, dead_heat_on_a_merrygoround 1966 films American heist films 1960s heist films Films directed by Bernard Girard Columbia Pictures films Films scored by Stu Phillips 1960s English-language films 1960s American films

Plot

Cast

Production

See also

References

External links