When he wasn't playing James Bond, Sean Connery was doing everything he could to break out of his 007 persona. One of the directors who recognized his range early on was Sidney Lumet, with whom he made five films. It's no small irony that one of their best collaborations has all the lithe charm and high-tech gadgetry of a Bond thriller. Released in 1971, The Anderson Tapes is a crackerjack entertainment that also raises serious questions about the burgeoning surveillance state, which would become a prevalent theme throughout the decade... and feels all the more relevant today as that technology has become more advanced and widespread.
'The Anderson Tapes' Predicts a World Under Constant Surveillance
Connery plays John "Duke" Anderson, a master thief who's just been released from prison after a 10-year stint. He travels to Manhattan to find his girlfriend, Ingrid (Dyan Cannon), living in a luxury high rise paid for by a wealthy benefactor. Although the building is under heavy surveillance, Duke decides to rob all the residents with the help of his team: antiques dealer Tommy Haskins (Martin Balsam), who'll scout the building for expensive items, getaway driver Edward Spencer (Dick Anthony Williams) and his pal, Jimmy (Paul Benjamin), Duke's former prison buddy, "Pops" (Stan Gottlieb), who will provide lookout, and Kurt Spencer, aka "The Kid" (Christopher Walken, in his film debut), another former inmate who will disable the alarms and crack the safes. Also along for the ride is Socks (Val Avery), a mob heavy whom Duke's Mafia backer, Pat Angelo (Alan King) wants "taken care of."
The Anderson Tapes came out at the beginning of Lumet's '70s heyday, when he released such classics as Serpico, Dog Day Afternoon, and Network. A prolific journeyman who made 43 features in the span of 50 years, Lumet tried his hand at a number of genres and often bounced back-and-forth between serious dramas and lighter fare (Murder on the Orient Express came between Serpico and Dog Day Afternoon, The Wiz immediately after Network and Equus). The Anderson Tapes falls on the more purely entertaining side of his filmography, but that doesn't mean it isn't as thoughtful as his most important works.
Connery is a veteran cop reaching his breaking point in this British crime thriller.
The specter of surveillance hangs over The Anderson Tapes. The first time we see Duke, it's on a TV screen, as the prison guards are playing a tape of him discussing safe cracking during a group therapy session ahead of his release. Not only is the building secretly wiretapped and monitored by security cameras, but Duke himself is under constant surveillance by the FBI, as are his associates, his mob handlers, and basically everyone else in New York City. Lumet emphasizes this by showing hidden microphones, cameras, and trackers everywhere. The implication is clear: no matter where you go, someone is always watching you.
'The Anderson Tapes' Kicked Off a Wave of Paranoia Thrillers
The 1970s were a rife time for paranoia, which was only accentuated when the Watergate scandal confirmed what many had long suspected: you're being watched even when you least suspect it. This is often done in the name of security — the around-the-clock monitoring at the New York high rise is meant to keep people like Duke from breaking and entering — but at what point does this become invasive? Do we sacrifice a certain amount of freedom in order to feel safe? Does the government have a right to keep constant tabs on our every move, even ex-cons like Duke? These questions would be further explored in prestige thrillers like The Conversation, The Parallax View, and Three Days of the Condor. Fears of constant surveillance have only become more pronounced as our data is scraped by every website and our cell phones act as constant tracking devices.
The extraordinary thing about The Anderson Tapes is that it packages these themes in what appears to be an Oceans Eleven-style heist movie, only to reveal itself to be about something far more sinister. Connery has the same rakish charm and suave magnetism that defined his portrayal of Bond, yet with an undercurrent of brutality instilled from years behind bars. His crew is the usual assortment of character types who liven up the proceedings with their personalities. And Lumet keeps the pacing brisk with a 99-minute runtime. It's all fun and games until you realize the deck has been stacked by forces you can't control... let alone see.
The Anderson Tapes is available to watch on The Criterion Channel in the U.S.
Cast
Dyan Cannon
, Sean Connery
, Martin Balsam
, Ralph Meeker
, Alan King
, Christopher Walken
, Val Avery
, Dick Anthony Williams
, Garrett Morris
, Stan Gottlieb
, Paul Benjamin
, Anthony Holland
, Richard B. Shull
, Conrad Bain
, Margaret Hamilton
, Judith Lowry
, Max Showalter
, Janet Ward
, Scott Jacoby
, Norman Rose
, Meg Myles
, John Call
, Raoul Kraushaar
, John Braden
, Paula Trueman
Custom Image by Nimesh Niyomal
English (US) ·