The Capone Investment (1974/Mystery/British Mini-Series/VCI DVD)
Picture: C
Sound: C+ Extras: D Episodes: C
In the kind of show British TV would be most likely to
try, The Capone Investments tries to
link gangsters then and before from Chicago to a series of murders and crime in
the U.K. and though it is a very mixed bag, I give them points for trying. They have a good writer in Ian Kennedy Martin
(Hadleigh, The Rivals Of Sherlock Holmes, The
Saint) and a cast that includes future star John Thaw (Inspector Morse, The Sweeney,
Kavanagh, QC), but I never totally
bought the whole thing.
Still, I am amused by the attempt and 1974 was closer to
the old days of Chicago than now, but like Gerald Rivers and his infamous ‘Al
Capone’s Vaults’ fiasco, the idea that the man is dead and left millions behind
waiting to be rediscovered has always been a cursed idea and if the British
could not make it work, forget it. I
liked the acting and locations, plus it is a very 1970s production, but the
storyline never worked out as effectively as it could have and the resolution
is problematic. Now, you can see for
yourself.
The 1.33 X 1 image has some good color, but is softer
throughout with more aliasing errors than expected and the videotape answer to
process shooting (especially when people are in vehicles) looks bad like a TV
comedy skit, but that is where British TV production started to go at this
point and before U.S. TV buried themselves in videotape. The Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono is better, though
it can have some harsh character. There
are no extras.
- Nicholas Sheffo
