''Firepower'' (aka ''Fire Power'') is a 1979 British

action-thriller film The action film is a film genre that predominantly features chase sequences, fights, shootouts, explosions, and stunt work. The specifics of what constitutes an action film has been in scholarly debate since the 1980s. While some scholars such as ...

directed by

Michael Winner Michael Robert Winner (30 October 1935 – 21 January 2013) was an English filmmaker, writer, and media personality. He is known for directing numerous action, thriller, and black comedy films in the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s, including several c ...

and starring

Sophia Loren Sofia Costanza Brigida Villani Scicolone (; born 20 September 1934), known professionally as Sophia Loren ( , ), is an Italian actress, active in her native country and the United States. With a career spanning over 70 years, she is one of the ...

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 ...

O. J. Simpson Orenthal James Simpson (July 9, 1947 – April 10, 2024), also known by his nickname "the Juice", was an American professional American football, football player, actor, and media personality who played in the National Football League (NFL) ...

and

Eli Wallach Eli Herschel Wallach ( ; December 7, 1915 – June 24, 2014) was an American film, television, and stage actor from New York City. Known for his character actor roles, his entertainment career spanned over six decades. He received a British Aca ...

. It was the final film in the career of actor

Victor Mature Victor John Mature (January 29, 1913 – August 4, 1999) was an American stage, film, and television actor who was a leading man in Hollywood during the 1940s and 1950s. His best known film roles include '' One Million B.C.'' (1940), '' My Darli ...

. The film was poorly reviewed by critics who objected to its convoluted plot, though the lead performances and filming locations were generally praised.

Plot

In New York City, Adele Tasca is present when her husband is murdered by a letter bomb. She suspects the reclusive billionaire Karl Stegner, his former employer, of committing the assassination. She learns that her husband, who worked as a chemist, discovered that his employer had made a contaminated drug that resulted in patients contracting cancer. The US government would like to be able to find and bring charges against this mysterious Stegner, who hides his face from the world and his income from the tax department.

FBI The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic Intelligence agency, intelligence and Security agency, security service of the United States and Federal law enforcement in the United States, its principal federal law enforcement ag ...

agent Frank Hull is assigned to the case but does not know how to find Stegner. He decides to use a former secret agent, Sal Hyman, to help him. The latter hires Jerry Fannon, a former mafia hitman, for a million dollars, and sends him to Antigua. Sal thinks Jerry is the only man likely to infiltrate the network that protects Stegner. His right-hand man, Catlett is killed by Leo Gelhorn on the island, but with the help of the beautiful Adele, who wants revenge, Jerry succeeds in tracking down Stegner, before realizing that he actually captured Stegner's double, who was the victim of an attack by Stegner's men. Jerry returns to the island where Stegner is hiding. The mysterious Dr. Felix is really Stegner. After disposing of the vehicles and the helicopter of Dr. Felix, Jerry enters the house with a bulldozer. He takes Felix prisoner and leaves with him and Adele, pursued by Stegner's bodyguards. As they prepare to leave the island by seaplane, Adele turns a gun on Jerry. Felix takes his weapon, but when he fires at Jerry, Adele turns away. Jerry finally takes off with Dr. Felix to be brought to justice. A little later, Adele is introduced to Harold Everett, another billionaire who she sets her eyes on, as her next conquest.

Cast

as Adele Tasca *

as Jerry Fanon/Eddie *

as Catlett *

as Sal Hyman *

Anthony Franciosa Anthony George Franciosa (né Papaleo; October 25, 1928 – January 19, 2006) was an American actor most often billed as Tony Franciosa at the height of his career. He began his career on stage and made a breakthrough portraying the brother of t ...

as Dr. Charles Felix *

George Grizzard George Cooper Grizzard Jr. (April 1, 1928 – October 2, 2007) was an American stage, television, and film actor. He was the recipient of a Grammy Award, a Primetime Emmy Award and a Tony Award, among other accolades. Biography Early life and ...

as Leo Gelhorn *

Vincent Gardenia Vincent Gardenia (born Vincenzo Scognamiglio; January 7, 1920 – December 9, 1992) was an Italian-American stage, film and television actor. He was nominated twice for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor, first for '' Bang the Drum Slowl ...

as Frank Hull *

as Harold Everett * Jake LaMotta as Nickel Sam *

Hank Garrett Hank Garrett (born Henry Greenberg Cohen Sandler Weinblatt; October 26, 1931) is an American actor, comedian, author, speaker, teacher, mixed martial artist and retired professional wrestler best known for the television role of Officer Nicholso ...

as Oscar Bailey * George Touliatos as Karl Stegner * Conrad Roberts as Lestor Wallace *

Billy Barty Billy Barty (born William John Bertanzetti; October 25, 1924 – December 23, 2000) was an American actor and activist. In adult life, he stood tall, due to cartilage–hair hypoplasia dwarfism. Because of his short stature, he was often cast i ...

as Dominic Carbone *

Vincent Beck Vincent Beck (August 15, 1924 – July 24, 1984) was an American character actor who began his career as on stage. He was also a prolific film and television actor who acted in films such as ''Santa Claus Conquers the Martians'' (1964), '' The S ...

as Trilling *

Dominic Chianese Dominic Chianese (; ; born February 24, 1931) is an American actor, singer, and musician. He is best known for his roles as Corrado "Junior" Soprano on the HBO series ''The Sopranos'' (1999–2007), Johnny Ola in ''The Godfather Part II'' ( ...

as Orlov * Andrew Duncan as Del Cooper * Paul D'Amato as Tagua

Production

''Firepower'' started as a

Dirty Harry ''Dirty Harry'' is a 1971 American action-thriller film produced and directed by Don Siegel, the first in the Dirty Harry (film series), ''Dirty Harry'' series. Clint Eastwood plays the title role, in his first appearance as San Francisco Polic ...

film written by Bill Kerby. It was considerably rewritten. In 1977,

mentioned one of his upcoming projects was ''Fire Power'' for producer

Carlo Ponti Carlo Fortunato Pietro Ponti Sr. (11 December 1912 – 10 January 2007) was an Italian film producer with more than 140 productions to his credit. Along with Dino De Laurentiis, he is credited with reinvigorating and popularizing Italian cin ...

with

Terence Hill Terence Hill (born Mario Girotti; 29 March 1939) is an Italian actor, film director, screenwriter and film producer. He began his career as a child actor and gained international fame for starring roles in action and comedy films, many with hi ...

. Sophia Loren was cast at a reported fee of $1 million. According to director Michael Winner, producer Lew Grade had fully expected

Charles Bronson Charles Bronson (born Charles Dennis Buchinsky; November 3, 1921 – August 30, 2003) was an American actor. He was known for his roles in action films and his "granite features and brawny physique". Bronson was born into extreme poverty in ...

to co-star with Loren. With much of the pre-production crew already on location in the Caribbean (

Saint Lucia Saint Lucia is an island country of the West Indies in the eastern Caribbean. Part of the Windward Islands of the Lesser Antilles, it is located north/northeast of the island of Saint Vincent (Saint Vincent and the Grenadines), Saint Vincent ...

), Grade wanted to shut down the production when Bronson pulled out. Realizing how much money he had already sunk into a film that had not properly secured its star actors, Grade saved face by moving ahead and using James Coburn as a replacement for Bronson. Coburn said "I did it for the money, the locations (the Caribbean islands) and to work with Sophia Loren. The director was Michael Winner. He’s probably one of the weirdest guys I’ve ever met. Yet, I thought he was a good guy when I first met him. But when he got on the set, he was almost like a total dictator. I found it hard to work for that way. The most fun I had was when I got to drive a bulldozer through a house in the islands (laughs).” It was one of Coburn's last leading roles. Winner says the millionaire character was based on

Howard Hughes Howard Robard Hughes Jr. (December 24, 1905 – April 5, 1976) was an American Aerospace engineering, aerospace engineer, business magnate, film producer, and investor. He was The World's Billionaires, one of the richest and most influential peo ...

and Robert Vesco. ''Firepower'' was filmed in

Curaçao Curaçao, officially the Country of Curaçao, is a constituent island country within the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located in the southern Caribbean Sea (specifically the Dutch Caribbean region), about north of Venezuela. Curaçao includ ...

Antigua Antigua ( ; ), also known as Waladli or Wadadli by the local population, is an island in the Lesser Antilles. It is one of the Leeward Islands in the Caribbean region and the most populous island of the country of Antigua and Barbuda. Antigua ...

Brooklyn Brooklyn is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City located at the westernmost end of Long Island in the New York (state), State of New York. Formerly an independent city, the borough is coextensive with Kings County, one of twelv ...

, New Jersey, New York,

Miami Miami is a East Coast of the United States, coastal city in the U.S. state of Florida and the county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade County in South Florida. It is the core of the Miami metropolitan area, which, with a populat ...

, Florida, and

Key Largo, Florida Key Largo is an unincorporated area and census-designated place in Monroe County, Florida, United States, located on the island of Key Largo in the upper Florida Keys. The population was 12,447 at the 2020 census, up from 10,433 in 2010. The ...

Bridgeport, Connecticut Bridgeport is the List of municipalities in Connecticut, most populous city in the U.S. state of Connecticut and the List of cities in New England by population, fifth-most populous city in New England, with a population of 148,654 in 2020. Loc ...

. Victor Mature makes a cameo at the request of director Michael Winner, who wanted someone instantly recognisable for the role of one of the richest people in the world. "I worked for eight hours on one scene," he laughed. Winner says he "resented" having O. J. Simpson imposed on him but "now I am happy he was given to me because what he lacks in experience he makes up with in charisma." Simpson said "there were times on this movie, I didn't feel comfortable. I needed a little more attention from the director to establish my character."

Reception

''Firepower'' was an early release from AFD, a new distribution company set up by Lew Grade in association with EMI to distribute their films in the US.

Critical

Janet Maslin Janet R. Maslin (born August 12, 1949) is an American journalist, who served as a film critic for ''The New York Times'' from 1977 to 1999, serving as chief critic for the last six years, and then a literary critic from 2000 to 2015. In 2000, M ...

of ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'' wrote: "Mr. Winner directs movies the way others toss salads, which means that “Firepower” is best appreciated at a kind of mental half‐mast. A lot happens. None of it makes sense". She further added: "Some of the performances Mr. Winner gets from his supporting players are rip‐roaringly awful, as is Gato Barbieri's loud and schlocky score. However, there's a nice chemistry in the teaming of Miss Loren, Mr. Coburn and Mr. Simpson, each of whom has an unusually physical presence on the screen." Author John Howard Reid concurred that the plot was too convoluted, stating that the film has "enough plot twists and action sequences for a dozen movies". He approved of the performances, but expressed disappointment that Victor Mature barely had any screen time and was not central to the plot and that Coburn's double role wasn't used to better effect.Rei
2015
p. 205. The review in ''

Variety Variety may refer to: Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats * Variety (radio) * Variety show, in theater and television Films * ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont * ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...

'' noted: "If the story becomes too tough or tiresome to follow, or the action grows tepid and repetitive, there’s always the beautiful scenery of the glamorous Caribbean locales.""Review: 'Firepower'."
''

'', 6 April 2017.

References

Notes

Citations

Bibliography

* Halliwell, Leslie. ''Leslie Halliwell's Film Guide''. New York: Harper & Roe, 1989. . * Reid, John Howard. ''Classic Movies: The Best and the Worst Pictures to see! Films to avoid!'' Morrisville, North Carolina: Lulu.com. (Reid Books), 2015. . * Winner, Michael. ''Winner Takes All: A Life of Sorts''. London: Robson Books, 2004. .

External links

*
Firepower
at Letterbox DVD * {{Michael Winner 1979 films 1970s action thriller films 1970s heist films British aviation films British action thriller films British heist films Films about kidnapping Films directed by Michael Winner Films set in the Caribbean Films shot in Connecticut Films shot in Curaçao Films shot in Miami Films shot in New Jersey Films shot in New York City Films shot in Saint Lucia ITC Entertainment films Cockfighting in film Films with screenplays by Michael Winner Films about the Federal Bureau of Investigation Films produced by Michael Winner 1970s English-language films 1970s American films 1970s British films English-language crime films English-language action thriller films Scimitar Films films