Duffy Reviews

This lethargic attempt to cash in on the hippie movement has Coburn, an aging flower child living in Tangiers, approached by Alderton and Fox, who want him to help them with a caper. James Mason is a stoical British banker with a cruel bent and a unique talent for making money. Fox and Alderton are his two sons by different mothers and both abhor Mason. Fox is a playboy and Alderton is a mild-mannered serf in his father's employ. They plan to nab several million that Mason is transferring by ship from exotic Tangiers to Marseilles. York, Fox's beloved, helps recruit Coburn, who is intrigued by a share in the loot as well as closer relations with York. York, Fox, and Coburn get aboard the ship in disguise and steal the money. Coburn and York dive overboard and are picked up by Alderton in a boat equipped with a helicopter as well as a number of fresh corpses. They stuff money into the dead folks' pockets, get aboard the chopper, and then blow up the fishing vessel, leaving behind debris and cadavers with money in their clothing. After reaching their Corsican rendezvous, Alderton returns to France, and York and Coburn remain on the island awaiting word from Fox, who is busily attempting to find someone to "wash" the money. Coburn soon realizes that it was all a plot set up by Mason, who is York's lover. Mason wanted to have the cash stolen so he could collect insurance on it and keep it as well. Once Coburn is hip to that fact, he contacts the police and tells them that he's found the cash. Mason is thwarted in his plot and must give Coburn a $100,000 reward since the police are now in on it. Now much richer, Coburn bids them farewell and goes back to banging his cymbals, or whatever it is aging hippies do. Filmed mostly in Almeria, Spain, the working title was "Avec-Avec," so it's easy to see why they decided to call it DUFFY. Coburn tries very hard to convince but doesn't. York has little to do but does that adequately. Mason and Fox are wasted, and Alderton is the standout performer in an otherwise tedious film.