Woodyanders Review of The Amazing Dobermans

The Amazing Dobermans (1976)

A nicely silly and enjoyable 70's crime caper yarn

[8/10 · 3 March 2007]

Earnest, but rather inept treasury agent James Franciscus enlists the aid of an elderly erstwhile con man turned wise, amiable religious kook decent cat (a delightfully droll Fred Astaire, who played a similar part in "The Towering Inferno") and the old dude's special collection of versatile police trained Dobermans so he can collar a brutish, browbeating, money-grubbing racketeer (a robust, blustery turn by veteran Catskills comic Jack Carter) and his gang of nasty goons. Ably directed by Byron Ross Chudnow, this honey sizes up as a really solid and on the mark semi-facetious crime caper yarn that's given an additional lift out of the rut by future big deal mainstream film composer Alan ("Back to the Future," "Predator") Silvestri's funky, with-it get-down groovy soul score, clear, expert cinematography by frequent Monte Hellman movie lenser Gregory ("Ride in the Whirlwind," "The Shooting") Sandor, the gorgeous Barbara Eden in scanty, sexy, revealing apparel (you even get to see Barbara's navel!), a winningly loopy sense of humor (Fred calls his dobies his "family"), the always great Billy Barty as a circus midget, lots of first-rate stirring scenes of the Dobermans in strenuous gangster-thwarting action, and adroit occasional use of wipes, slow motion, hazy soft focus, and other such snazzy 70's cutting edge action film stylistic flourishes. Refreshingly straightforward and bereft of any pretense, this feature overall deserves a golden milkbone.