Brannigan (1975)

A mostly mediocre action flick made near the end of John Wayne's long career, the last 15 minutes are so awful, it seems hard to believe these final sequences were directed by Douglas Hickox, who's work was normally pretty decent and at times brilliant (Theatre of Blood). Only for hardcore Duke fans I'm afraid...

Who could ever have thought that John Wayne and Richard Attenborough would ever team up? Well they do, here, and I quiet enjoyed the outcome. The former is a rather wayward Chicago police officer sent to London to collect escapee "Larkin" (John Vernon). Thing is, whilst he and "Sir Charles" are having a boiler-maker in a posh gentleman's club, their quarry is kidnapped from his sauna and it falls to this unlikely alliance - with a little help from the feisty "Jennifer" (Judy Geeson) to track him down. Wayne has a glint in his eye for most of this, and though the plot is entirely predictable it does feature quite a fun car chase, and some very explosive toilet furniture. Nope, it isn't great, but it moves along well for just shy of two hours with two experts in their field having just enough fun for us to enjoy it. Fifty years on, it is also interesting to look at a London docklands environment that has long gone - and there is quite a nifty twist in the tale at the end.