Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		3.5
Audio		5.0
Extras		0.0
Overall		3.5

Dead Heat on a Merry-Go-Round Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov January 15, 2024

Bernard Girard's "Dead Heat on a Merry-Go-Round" (1966) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Imprint Films. There are no bonus features on the release. In English, with optional English SDH subtitles for the main feature. Region-Free.

In the real world, James Coburn could not have seduced all the beautiful women that he sleeps with in Dead Heat in a Merry-Go-Round. After several drinks, one could have temporarily found him irresistible and made a mistake, but not all of them. I am sorry, but I must point out this minor yet very important detail because Coburn’s sex appeal is at the center of the story that is told in the film.

Coburn’s first target is a smart and astonishingly elegant prison psychologist (Marian McCargo) who helps him get approved for early parole in exchange for his love. Several days after he is released from prison and just as many nights full of sexual fireworks, Coburn abandons his savior and arrives in L.A. to do a very big job that will allow him to retire in style on the other side of the border. But to organize the big job Coburn needs to spend big money, so he sets up several scams across the country to collect the capital he needs. Coburn’s most beautiful target (Camilla Sparv) emerges in Boston but turns out to be from Sweden and unexpectedly melts his heart, and even though she is only a poor secretary to an aging millionaire, he very quickly marries her -- while using an alias of course. Then, after lying to her that their future is in L.A. because he has a special talent that can be properly appreciated there, she is tricked into abandoning her wealthy employer.

In L.A., Coburn begins organizing the job with several trusted associates. (One of them is the always reliable character actor Aldo Ray). While working with a stolen blueprint, the men design a plan to rob a local bank’s busiest branch at Los Angeles International Airport. They choose to do it during a highly-publicized event everyone expects will temporarily transform Los Angeles International Airport into a madhouse -- the arrival of the new Prime Minister of the U.S.S.R.

If you approach Bernard Girard’s Dead Heat on a Merry-Go-Round expecting that it would match the quality of some of the greatest capers you have seen over the years, prepare to be disappointed. It is not that kind of a brilliant film. It is not that kind of an ambitious film either. It is a project the prolific producer Harry Alan Towers would have loved to fund just so that later he could claim that he was able to work with a big-time American star like Coburn.

But Dead Heat on a Merry-Go-Round is not a misfire. Its only major flaw is its insistence to accept Coburn as a suave chameleon that rivals the one Pierce Brosnan will play a few decades later in The Thomas Crown Affair. Coburn is a bit too old for the part, and even by 1960s standards does not look particularly elegant when he must, so the magic that happens between him and his targets looks entirely scripted. The rest looks good. For example, Girard chooses quite a few great locations that make Dead Heat on a Merry-Go-Round appear like a much bigger film than it was. While hardly original, the light humor is always in sync with the heavy period atmosphere that gives Dead Heat on a Merry-Go-Round its identity as well. The mandatory twist at the end provides a great exclamation point, too.

If you decide to see Dead Heat on a Merry-Go-Round, you should do it on a night when you have the time to do a double bill with Bruce Geller’s Harry in Your Pocket!. In the latter, Coburn is an authentic chameleon and member of a very creative crew of pickpockets that hit several major cities in the United States and Canada. This film has a very heavy period atmosphere, too. It is better acted and shot as well.

Dead Heat on a Merry-Go-Round Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Presented in an aspect ratio of 1.78:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, Dead Heat on a Merry-Go-Round arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Imprint Films.

Last summer, we reviewed this U.S. release of Dead Heat on a Merry-Go-Round from Kino Lorber, which was sourced from an old but quite nice master that was supplied by Sony Pictures. This release is sourced from the same master and produces an almost identical presentation of the film. Why almost identical? It could have been encoded a little bit better, though there are no troubling anomalies. Indeed, both releases reveal the same weaknesses in the same areas, the most notable ones being the uneven grain exposure and clipped highlights. And yes, I still think that some adjustments can be made so that color saturation and balance are more convincing. Image stability is good. The same tiny blemishes and marks that I saw on the previous release are retained. There are no large cuts, warped or torn frames to report. (Note: This is a Region-Free Blu-ray release. Therefore, you will be able to play it on your player regardless of your geographical location).

Dead Heat on a Merry-Go-Round Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

There is only one standard audio track on this Blu-ray release: LPCM 2.0. Optional English SDH subtitles are provided for the main feature.

If you have seen our review of the U.S. release of Dead Heat on a Merry-Go-Round, you already know that I like the lossless track a lot. I am convinced that when the current master was prepared at Sony Pictures, which must have been quite some time ago, the audio was fully remastered because there are no traces of aging on it. If the film is fully restored in the future, the audio will likely be revisited, but at the moment I do not think that there is any room for meaningful improvements.

Dead Heat on a Merry-Go-Round Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Most unfortunately, there are no supplemental features to be found on this release.

Dead Heat on a Merry-Go-Round Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

It is winter where I live and at the moment it is very, very cold. One of my favorite distractions when the weather is this cold is to view old capers, preferably of the type that invent reasons to visit exotic locations with plenty of sun. Dead Heat on a Merry-Go-Round is not a brilliant caper but works quite well. It can make a solid double bill with Harry in Your Pocket!, which also transforms James Coburn into a sleek thief with a seemingly endless bag of tricks. Imprint Films' release is sourced from the same master that Kino Lorber worked with to produce its U.S. release of Dead Heat on a Merry-Go-Round. RECOMMENDED.