''Impasse'' is a 1969 American film about a group of adventurers trying to recover gold lost in the

Philippines The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

. It stars

Burt Reynolds Burton Leon Reynolds Jr. (February 11, 1936 – September 6, 2018) was an American actor, considered a sex symbol and icon of 1970s American popular culture. Reynolds first rose to prominence when he starred in television series such as ' ...

Anne Francis Anne Francis (also known as Anne Lloyd Francis; September 16, 1930 – January 2, 2011) was an American actress known for her ground-breaking roles in the science-fiction film ''Forbidden Planet'' (1956) and the television action-drama seri ...

Vic Diaz Victor Sunico Diaz'', popularly known as Vic Diaz, (July 29, 1932 – September 15, 2006) was a Filipino character actor who mostly portrayed villains. He was also the father of Teddy Diaz, the founding guitarist of the Filipino Rock band The ...

Lyle Bettger Lyle Stathem Bettger (February 13, 1915 – September 24, 2003) was an American character actor who had roles in Hollywood films and television from the 1950s onward, often portraying villains. One such role was the wrathfully jealous elephant ...

and

Rodolfo Acosta Rodolfo Pérez Acosta (July 29, 1920 – November 7, 1974) was a Mexican-American character actor who became known for his roles as Mexican outlaws or American Indians in Hollywood western films. He was sometimes credited as Rudolfo Acosta ...

Plot

Pat Morrison (Reynolds) runs a shady salvage operation in

Manila Manila ( , ; fil, Maynila, ), officially the City of Manila ( fil, Lungsod ng Maynila, ), is the capital of the Philippines, and its second-most populous city. It is highly urbanized and, as of 2019, was the world's most densely populate ...

. His latest scheme involves finding $3 million worth of

gold bar A gold bar, also called gold bullion or gold ingot, is a quantity of refined metallic gold of any shape that is made by a bar producer meeting standard conditions of manufacture, labeling, and record keeping. Larger gold bars that are produced ...

s hidden by the military during

. To this end, he needs the help of several former soldiers who were present when the gold was hidden. The first is Jesus (Vic Diaz), a

Filipino muslim Islam was the first-recorded monotheistic religion in the Philippines. Islam reached the Philippines in the 14th century with the arrival of Muslim traders from the Persian Gulf, southern India, and their followers from several sultanates in th ...

and Morrison's business associate. The second is Draco (Rodolfo Acosta), a hard-drinking, hot-tempered

Apache The Apache () are a group of culturally related Native American tribes in the Southwestern United States, which include the Chiricahua, Jicarilla, Lipan, Mescalero, Mimbreño, Ndendahe (Bedonkohe or Mogollon and Nednhi or Carrizaleño an ...

living on an

Indian reservation An Indian reservation is an area of land held and governed by a federally recognized Native American tribal nation whose government is accountable to the United States Bureau of Indian Affairs and not to the state government in which it ...

who answers Morrison's

telegram Telegraphy is the long-distance transmission of messages where the sender uses symbolic codes, known to the recipient, rather than a physical exchange of an object bearing the message. Thus flag semaphore is a method of telegraphy, whereas p ...

with the promise of finding a wartime lover named Maria Bonita. The trio then breaks the third man, the bigoted Hansen (Lyle Bettger), out of a Filipino jail. Draco eventually manages to find Maria in a local bar, but discovers that she has grown older and gained weight. Meanwhile, Morrison rescues the captured Trev Jones (Clarke Gordon), a veteran with a heart condition who has been abducted by Wombat (

Jeff Corey Jeff Corey (born Arthur Zwerling; August 10, 1914 – August 16, 2002) was an American stage and screen actor who became a well-respected acting teacher after being blacklisted in the 1950s. Life and career Corey attended New Utrecht High ...

). With Trev's help, Morrison and company are able to figure out the gold's exact location in the

Malinta Tunnel The Malinta Tunnel is a tunnel complex built by the United States Army Corps of Engineers on the island of Corregidor in the Philippines. It was initially used as a bomb-proof storage and personnel bunker, but was later equipped as a 1,000 ...

on the island of

Corregidor Corregidor ( tl, Pulo ng Corregidor, ) is an island located at the entrance of Manila Bay in the southwestern part of Luzon in the Philippines, and is considered part of the Province of Cavite. Due to this location, Corregidor has historically b ...

. Along the way, Morrison falls in love with Jones's daughter Bobby (Anne Francis), a tennis champion. This complicates matters as Morrison is sleeping with Jesus's Japanese wife Mariko (Miko Mayama), a fact that Jesus discovers and confronts Morrison with. Despite their differences, the four men are able to successfully locate and retrieve the gold. However, they meet resistance in the

Philippine military The Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) ( fil, Sandatahang Lakas ng Pilipinas) are the military forces of the Philippines. It consists of three main service branches; the Army, the Air Force, and the Navy (including the Marine Corps). The P ...

. A gunfight ensues that leaves Hansen dead, Draco wounded and Jesus captured. After a brief chase, Morrison finds his escape route blocked and it is revealed that a jealous Mariko had tipped authorities off to their plan. The film ends at the airport with Bobby returning to the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

and a smiling Morrison being led away in

handcuff Handcuffs are restraint devices designed to secure an individual's wrists in proximity to each other. They comprise two parts, linked together by a chain, a hinge, or rigid bar. Each cuff has a rotating arm which engages with a ratchet tha ...

Cast

as Pat Morrison *

as Bobby Jones *

as Carl Hansen *

as Jesus Jimenez Riley *

as Draco *

as The Wombat *Clarke Gordon as Trev Jones *

Miko Mayama Miko Mayama (born August 15, 1939 in Kyoto, Japan) is a Japanese-American actress who was active in the 1960s and 1970s. Career Mayama made several film and television appearances from the mid 1960s to the late 1970s. She had a supporting role in ...

as Mariko Riley *Joanne Dalsass as Penny *Shirley Gorospe as Sherry *Bruno Punzalan as Nakajima *Eddie Nicart as Kuli

Production

The film was based on an original script by John C Higgins called ''Golden Bullet''. Aubrey Schenck produced and raised finance through United Artists. It was to be the first of four pictures Schenck was to make for UA, each using Hal Klein as producer. Burt Reynolds signed to star and

Ann-Margret Ann-Margret Olsson (born April 28, 1941) is a Swedish–American actress, singer, and dancer. As an actress and singer, she is credited as Ann-Margret. She is known for her roles in ''Pocketful of Miracles'' (1961), ''State Fair'' (1962), ''B ...

was originally announced as his co star. Filming began 15 January 1968 in the Philippines. Ann-Margret dropped out and was replaced by

Diana Hyland Diana Hyland (born Diane Gentner; January 25, 1936 – March 27, 1977) was an American stage, film and television actress. Early years Hyland was born Diane Gentner to John Theodore and Mary (Gorman) Gentner in Cleveland Heights, Ohio. Sh ...

. She dropped out and was replaced by Anne Francis.MOVIE CALL SHEET: Anne Francis to Co-Star Martin, Betty. Los Angeles Times 10 Jan 1968: d11.

Reception

Howard Thompson of the ''

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

'' described the film as "a good one that may get away all to soon", a reference to its limited release. While he cited a couple of glaring

plot hole In fiction, a plot hole, plothole or plot error is a gap or inconsistency in a storyline that goes against the flow of logic established by the story's plot. Plot holes are usually created unintentionally, often as a result of editing or the w ...

s, he praised the exotic setting, the performances, script and direction.Thompson, Howard.
Impasse (1969)
. 9 May 1969. New York Times.

References

External links