This German production (that does include lots of New York - and some Las Vegas - location shooting) knows that it can't compete with the James Bond films of its era in terms of budget, so it doesn't try to; it is quite content to operate within its own limits, and it does so effectively. The story has a slight novelty: instead of being "good guys vs. bad guys", it's "good guys vs. bad guys vs. bad guy", all of them are looking for 3 million dollars worth of gold that an undercover FBI agent managed to hide somewhere, just before he was found out and killed by his "associates". Though there is no blood in the movie, there are plenty of corpses, and at one point a bad guy even gives a hand grenade to a small boy to "play with"! (Jerry Cotton saves the boy). George Nader is unassuming as Cotton, Heidy Bohlen beautiful as a singer who knew the dead FBI man. Overall, the film is an agreeable mix of detection and action. **1/2 out of 4.
3 Reviews
later Jerry Cotton crime film still packs a punch for fans of series
django-119 July 2004
This film (English title DEADLY SHOTS ON BROADWAY) is the last of the eight German-made Jerry Cotton crime films starring George Nader, according to the IMDB. It doesn't offer anything new, but delivers the usual uniquely German spin on the hard-boiled crime film--supposedly set in the US and with a few location shots spliced in here and there, but ALWAYS looking and feeling completely European. Director Harald Reinl, who made so many fantastic westerns and crime films, creates a nicely seedy feel in many scenes, although the fisticuffs are not particularly convincing. George Nader, as always, looks cool and suave yet tough. He was a fantastic leading man and a multi-talented person and he is very much missed. Like all the color Cotton films, this one uses a garish color scheme in the interiors that fits the pulp origins of the character/series. Heidy Bohlen is an attractive leading lady (also seen in THE CORRUPT ONES and THE LONG SWIFT SWORD OF SIGFRIED), but no one really stands out in the rest of the cast. Overall, this is worthwhile to fans of the Jerry Cotton series, but those new to the series might want to see OPERATION HURRICANE FRIDAY NOON or DEATH IN A RED JAGUAR or MURDER CLUB OF BROOKLYN first. Were any of those novels ever translated into English? I'd love to read one...
Costello's Gold
zardoz-1328 August 2022
Warning: Spoilers
The final entry in the FBI agentJerry Cotton franchise makes quite a finality. Colton and the Bureau track down a thief who has made off with $3 million in gold ingots. The action is fast and fatal with George Nader grating roughed up. He gets into one scrape after another and finds himself at the mercy of his captors in one scene with his wrists bound behind his back and his entire body suspended from a meat hook. In the Rolf Schulz & Christina Stern screenplay, action beats dialogue and dialogue beats action. Heinz Holscher's cinematography provides atmosphere and accentuates the fireworks and fisticuffs. Peter Thomas's thundering score enhances the intrigue. Warning: the villains play for keeps, and they are willing to liquidate their own. During the gunfire-riddled pre-credit scene, director Harald Reinl shows us where the getaway driver stowed the bullion. The remaining 80 or so minutes has intrepid Jerry Cotton pursuing the Costello gang who killed the getaway truck. Little is what it seems in those tense tale of homicide and mayhem. Interestingly, in one scene between Cotton and his superior, we can see a portrait of J. Edgar Hoover.
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