Further, the video transfer provided to Kino Lorber by MGM is practically perfect. MGM's 2005 DVD was apparently a flipper, one side 4:3 full frame the other 4:3 letterboxed. The new Blu-ray, in 1080p 1.85:1 widescreen, really shows off Robert C. Moreno's unusually good cinematography, high quality work that, again, was not expected.

Ne'er-do-well Sam Whiskey (Reynolds) receives an offer from widow Laura Breckenridge (Angie Dickinson) to retrieve $250,000 in gold bars from a riverboat lying at the bottom of Colorado's Platte River. Her late husband, an official at the Denver Mint, stole the gold undetected, replacing it with gold-plated fakes. She then wants Sam to break into the Denver Mint and put it back, thus preserving her old-moneyed family's reputation.

Sam refuses, but in a very sexy sequence she seduces Sam, so exhausting him with a long night of sex that his resistance finally gives way and he agrees to the $20,000 job. He enlists two strong men to aid him: blacksmith Jed Hooker (Ossie Davis), and amateur inventor O.W. Bandy (Clint Walker).

Various obstacles stand in their way. A gang of thieves, led by Fat Henry Hobson (Rick Davis, who resembles Wilford Brimley), monitors the trio's activities from afar, looking for their chance to steal away the gold. To gain access into the mint they must kidnap the Treasury Department's inspector (Woodrow Parfrey, in an amusing character vignette) and get past its efficient, eagle-eyed manager, Peters (William Schallert, also fun).

Burt Reynolds had been acting in television since the late 1950s and in the movies soon after that, but his early career was severely hampered by the strangest of reasons: his then uncanny resemblance to a young Marlon Brando. He lost his first movie audition, in Sayonara (1957, starring Brando) for that reason, and even as late as Sam Whiskey film reviewers still made note of it, as if it were some sort of career-killing distraction. Reynolds's most visible role for a long time was playing half-Indian blacksmith Quint Asper on TV's Gunsmoke, but that was never more than a supporting part, and only lasted a few seasons in any event.

Reynolds must have had a swell agent, or maybe studio executives recognized superstar potential in the actor early on, because over the next 12-year period Reynolds headlined about 20 features, few of which were hits. During that time he appeared in Deliverance (1972) and The Longest Yard (1974), but most of his movies then were forgotten efforts like Shark! (1969), Skullduggery (1970), the unjustly reviled flop At Long Last Love (1975), and the truly terrible Hustle (1975). Strangely, despite a spotty track record, even at this point Reynolds was regarded as a huge star, commanding $1 million per picture.

Everything changed, of course, when Reynolds starred in Smokey and the Bandit (1977), a modest $4.3 million action-comedy that eventually grossed $300 million. For the next several years, virtually everything Reynolds touched turned into gold, though the quality of his movies varied, from the fairly good The End (1978), Hooper (1978), and Sharky's Machine (1981) to the appallingly bad Smokey and the Bandit II (1980), Stroker Ace (1983), and Cannonball Run II (1984). His worst films play like vanity projects, almost vaguely-scripted home movies, with Reynolds surrounding himself with pals like Dom DeLuise, future wife Loni Anderson, and director-stuntman Hal Needham, with Reynolds coasting on charm and little else. These movies targeted what Variety euphemistically terms "undemanding audiences," but gradually, even they lost interest.

Oddly though, there always seemed to exist a side of Reynolds looking for validation as an actor. One of his best later-career movies was Breaking In (1989), a sadly forgotten little gem directed by Scottish filmmaker Bill Forsyth and written by John Sayles. But cinematic junk like Rent-a-Cop (1988) and Cop and a Half (1993) did him in. Boogie Nights (1997), for which he was nominated for an Academy Award, seemed destined to revitalize his career, but for whatever reason, Reynolds was unable to capitalize on that success; his next two movies, Universal Soldier II (1998) and III (1999) went straight to video.

Sam Whiskey is interesting partly because it hints at the direction his career would take some time later. It may, for instance, mark the first time Reynolds used that strange, trademark laugh of his. His performance is actually very good; his comic timing is impeccable yet he seems very natural and confident, and almost like he's improvising some of his dialogue. (Reynolds should have replaced James Garner when the latter left Maverick. Probably he wasn't even considered. Reader Sergei Hasenecz adds, "Reynolds certainly had that sort of style which would have fit Maverick, but the big difference is that Reynolds comes off as cocky, which could be fatal to the Maverick con man character. Garner never, ever came off as cocky.")

The picture is good in various other respects. Angie Dickinson is incredibly sexy throughout. Reportedly Sam Whiskey was one of the first films cut to avoid an "M" (the old "R") rating, specifically a shot of a semi-nude Dickinson, though reportedly the cut in question has been restored for the Blu-ray. She's never fully nude but the movie teases its audience mercilessly with the obviously naked actress beneath the sheets, flirting with Reynolds's character for an entire reel.

The rest of the cast is also fine, and while certain aspects of the caper strain credibility, the period setting and excellent, visually interesting sets representing the Denver Mint (played in exterior shots by the same Universal backlot set seen in To Kill a Mockingbird and Back to the Future) compensate. Oddly, William W. Norton's screenplay seems absolutely destined for a final plot twist at the end* that never occurs.

Video & Audio

Sam Whiskey looks great in high-def. The 1.85:1 transfer is nearly flawless, with great detail and an eye-pleasing light film grain present. The cinematography helps, with much inventiveness on Robert C. Moreno's part, including one scene gorgeously photographed at twilight, overlooking a large valley. The DTS-HD Master Audio (2.0 mono) is likewise strong, with optional English subtitles on this region A disc.

Extra Features

Supplements include a trailer, in high-def, and a pleasant interview with Clint Walker, apparently done at the same time as his interview for the Blu-ray of Night of the Grizzly (1966).

Parting Thoughts

Unexpectedly entertaining with a terrific transfer, Sam Whiskey is Highly Recommended.

* (Spoilers) I was absolutely convinced the movie would end with Dickinson's character revealed as a con artist who, rather than hiring Sam to replace stolen gold with the real thing, in fact hired Sam do just the reverse: steal real gold he thinks is fake with fake gold he thinks is real. Her either admitting this to Sam at the end, or leaving him dead-broke would have made a more satisfying finish than the one in the final film. Was this idea even considered, I wonder?

Stuart Galbraith IV is the Kyoto-based film historian and publisher-editor of World Cinema Paradise. His credits include film history books, DVD and Blu-ray audio commentaries and special features.