***SPOILERS*** Dean "Dino" Martin in his last staring role is San Francisco attorney for the hopeless and downtrodden Joe Ricco who ends up getting involved in a double murder of two SFPD police officers by a former client of his black militant Frankie Steele, Thalmus Rusulala, that he earlier got off on a murder charge. Steele claiming innocence is on on the run and later tracked down at his headquarters in the Haven's Point district.That leads to a shoot out with Steele's friend Calvin Mapes, Oliver Givens, gunned down by policeman Tanner, Michael Gregory, as he was peacefully taking a dump in the john. Ricco who's not only hated by the police in letting the cop killer Frankie Steele go free in a previous case Steele's alleged victim Marie Justin's brother Justin, Robert Sampson, also has it in for Ricco in feeling that Steele murdered his sister Marie that he got off Scot-free on a technicality!Ricco who himself has become a target of the elusive cop killer in him trying to get Steele-The #1 suspect in the cops murder- to surrender himself to the police who's confronted by him at a local church who in the heat of the moment admits that he in fact did murder Marie Justin! That's after her catching him red-handed breaking into her apartment! That has Ricco flip out and slug it out with the much younger and stronger Steele that has him barley survive with his life. Now feeling that he let a murderer off the hook Ricco tries to apologize to Mr. Rustin who lets him have it in what a creep he is in him, a big shot lawyer, not realizing that his client was guilty!***SPOILERS*** It's at a party at the San Francisco Art Museum that the man who's been stalking Ricco all throughout the movie makes his grand appearance taking a number of pot shots at Ricco and hitting one of the visitors as well as tree security guards at the museum killing them. With Mister Ricco now taking it upon himself to catch the killer he ends up in a wild gun battle thus, after being hit himself, taking him down only to discover his true identity that shocks the living hell out of him! Not your usual Dean Martin movie but far better the the light comedies and self engaging drama he made throughout his long and successful career that showed that Martin can really act as well as sing and dance. P.S After the tragic death of son Dean Paul in a 1987 plane crash Dean Martin stayed away from the spotlight and became a virtual hermit living on a daily plate of pasta and a bottle of whiskey until he passed away on Christmas day 1995.

The Only Reason for a Dean Martin Fan to seek out this Unremarkable Movie is to See Dino in His Last Starring Role in a Major Motion Picture. Dean, as well as the Film itself, is not a Pretty Picture.Gone is the Playful Playboy, Gone is the Charming Boozer, Gone is the Suave Aloofness of His Persona that was a Schict He Employed for most of His Career, Gone is the sometimes Very Effective Dramatic Actor, Gone Baby Gone, as witnessed here, is Dean Martin. The Movie is a Bland, Boring, Turgid Story of a Lawyer and Defender of the Underdog that is Never Quite Fleshed Out. It's a Clunky Film with a TV Look and at times is Unprofessionally Acted, Shot, and Edited. There is a Twist Ending that Falls Flat as is most of the Movie and the Characters within. Humorous Scenes Bomb, the Mystery is Muddled, the Action is Pedestrian, and none of it is the Least Bit Intriguing. This Thing can be Summed UP in One Word......Tired.A Film Best Forgotten and Ignored, because there is Nothing to See Here that is the Least Bit Pleasant and Borderline Embarrassing for Anyone Involved in the Production.

When watching this film, the question is -- why did it end Dean Martin's film career? There were a number of reasons, really, that had nothing to do with the film itself. Just a little over a year before this film was released, Martin divorced his popular wife, Jeanne. And I personally know people who had been fans who "dropped" Dean, as a result. They saw the situation as Peck's bad boy really being bad, not just playing being bad. And, In 1974 his television show ended after a long (9 year) run. Since his smash hit (and financial bonanza) "Airport" in 1970, Dean had made only 2 movies before "Mr. Ricco". Clearly, Martin's career was winding down...and why not...he was approaching age 60.And that's where this film comes into the story. Dean Martin was getting old. I was in college when this film came out, and as a Dean Martin fan, I rushed to the theater to see it. There was a fair-sized audience in the theater that day, and 3 minutes into the film there was a scene that set the theater abuzz with chatter. I had only seen such a thing happen once before -- at a theater presentation of "Gone With The Wind" -- the scene looking down the staircase where we first see the dashing figure of Clark Gable. But unlike the GWTW experience, when the chatter was about how handsome the actor was, now it was about how old the actor looked. I heard people say things such as, "Oh my god! Look how old he is!" Now today, when you watch this film on television -- even a high def widescreen television -- he doesn't look THAT old. But in the theater, on a wide screen, with particularly crisp cinematography, the wrinkles were startlingly clear...and my guess was that Dean was wearing very little makeup. And, in this picture it mattered, because later there are fight scenes, and one can't help but think that it's illogical that a man that old could fight like that. In my opinion, that brutal photography of Dean's character playing cards 3 minutes into the film was the end of Dean's film career (not counting the much later Cannonball knock-offs).That's not to say that this is a bad film. It's not. Nor is it a great or almost-great film. It's a pretty average crime drama from the mid-1970s. As a TV-movie, this might have been a pretty decent release...much as was Frank Sinatra's "Contract On Cherry Street" as a TV-movie 2 years later. "Mr. Ricco" is a pretty gritty film, perhaps a little too gritty for a Dean Martin audience. Dean's acting is okay, in fact a little more subtle here, and he comes across believable as an attorney. And, this really is Dean's movie. While other roles are pivotal, and all the actors do their jobs, none have significant screen time.If there's a specific criticism I have it's that the stunt double for Dean is so not Dean in many of those scenes.It's interesting to watch the two flops at either end of Dean's solo film career -- this film and "Ten Thousand Bedrooms". Both are primarily for fans of Dean Martin.

In its opening scenes and setup, this film had several enjoyable and potentially interesting aspects to it. Dean Martin as Ricco had a pleasing understated realism in his performance, a million miles away from the plastic phoniness of his Matt Helm persona.Even the small roles were acted well - ranging from Geraldine Brooks as the woman Martin hooks up with Ricco to Ella Edwards as Sally (who informs Ricco that her son was a witness to the killing of the two cops) who gives such a nice performance that its a shame we don't see her character again later in the film.Also the plot, while nothing astonishing, has enough potential and variables in it to keep us interested to the end. In addition, the music added nicely to the atmosphere.So why does the film end up as nothing better then mediocre? Because it really loses its way in the second half. Not only because the plot takes some ludicrous turns (more on that later) but of Ricco resorting to fighting with admittedly disreputable characters on more then one occasion. It's bad not only because Martin is too old for the physical stuff but it seems so out of character for the intelligent and considered person Martin portrays Ricco to be earlier in the film. The almost comical fight Ricco has with Frankie Steele is the film's lowpoint and when it descends from a potentially top-quality crime film to a mediocre TV-standard crime drama lazily resorting to violence as a resolution to scenes.(SPOILER) But it's the plot and its resolution that really let down this film. Roger Ebert's review (available in the External reviews section) is spot on - who the killer actually is is so arbitrary (not to mention unbelievable) that it makes a large portion of the film redundant.The killer is actually the brother of the woman murdered by Frankie Steele that Ricco got off the murder rap on technical grounds at the start of the film. There's a scene with the killer in the film but his appearance is so brief that when his mask is taken off some might not even recall who he actually is.It's a watchable film but it could've been so much better.