Security cameras.  Wiretaps.  Unlawful surveillance courtesy of deceitful government agencies (such as the Internal Revenue Service).  Everywhere.  All this… thirty years before the 43rd President Of The United States wormed his way into the Oval Office.

Upon moving in with his girlfriend, Ingrid (Dyan Cannon), Duke discovers he’s living inside a burglar’s wet dream: the entire upscale apartment building he now resides in is literally loaded with rich people and very valuable objects.  This gets the ol’ bean-a-thinkin’… and soon, Duke Anderson is ready to go back into his non-legit business.

Although modern audiences may find themselves snickering over the obviously outdated technology depicted in The Anderson Tapes (note the collection of hideously large closed-circuit television sets on the lobby desk in several scenes), you can’t argue that it’s a pretty damn solid adaptation of the Lawrence Sanders novel and makes for a great Martini Movie.  The only drawback is the whole Dyan Cannon thing (she ruins damn near every movie she touches… like Revenge Of The Pink Panther… yeah, you feel my pain there, don’t you, brudder?).  Yes, a man that’s been in prison for a decade deserves a l’il som’n som’n, but just get it wet and have done with, a’ight, ‘cuz the whole subplot with her being a pricey prostitute goes nowhere fast!

Sidney Lumet (who later directed Dog Day Afternoon with Al Pacino and Anderson screenwriter Frank Pierson) does a great job of piecing the story together and the near-lack of a musical score by Quincy Jones consists of a lot of electronic sounds (again: dated, but effective).  I should also point out that The Anderson Tapes is Christopher Walken’s first official starring role in a major motion picture (yes, one of the most popular Roger Moore-era Bond villains and the most popular Bond… together) and, if that isn’t enough for you, check out the great Martin Balsam in an over-the-top portrayal as the gay antique dealer (complete with a jet-black pompadour toupee and ascot) who joins his old pal Duke for a piece of the action.

Hey, but that’s not all, kids: The Anderson Tapes also co-stars the late Alan King as a mob guy (in a fine example of choice casting that would go unequaled until John Agar landed that part in Dino De Laurentiis’ King Kong remake five years later), Paul Benjamin, and Putney Swope’s Stan Gottlieb (as an ex-con that was in the joint for so long, he missed The Depression, World War II, and Korea), with additional (smaller) parts by Ralph Meeker (as the police chief), future “SNL” fave Garrett Morris (I always think of that skit where he’s the “hearing-impaired” guy at the bottom of the screen), and, not may people know this it seems… but that short little man in the building named O’Leary?  That’s John Call, who played fucking Jolly Old St. Nick in Santa Claus Conquers The Martians!  Several smaller (but memorable) other parts are played by Margaret Hamilton (in her final big screen role), Conrad Bain (the dad from “Diff’rent Strokes”!), and even movie music maestro Raoul Kraushaar (billed as Ralph Stanley).

So, even if you don’t like the movie itself, see it for the cast.

Presentation
Sony opted to dig out and dust off several of their older titles from the Columbia Vault.  The result is a line called “Martini Movies”, an inspired decision that was obviously made by somebody that actually wanted to go through Business School because they knew that’s what the wanted to do (and not one of those twits that does it because they can afford it and changes their profession every other month -- I hate that).  Each DVD include some new cover artwork (ah, those old VHS covers were getting old anyway) that really doesn’t take that much away.

Newly mastered in High Def, The Anderson Tapes is brought to us in an anamorphic 1.85:1 widescreen ratio.  At times, the movie looks like is showing signs of its age: the first ten minutes or so doesn’t look incredibly hot (which is expected in the title sequence, but it carries over a bit) with black levels appearing very grainy.  Soon though, the image improves.

Both English and French Mono Stereo soundtracks and subtitles are included with this release.  I didn’t notice anything particularly noteworthy about either audio choice, but they were definitely satisfactory.

Extras
All of the titles in the first wave of the “Martini Movies” collection include several little groovy Featurettes wherein a sexy-voiced female gives you some heads-up on the topic at hand and ends with a cocktail recipe (the disc itself features a recipe for The Shaken Martini, appropriately enough, considering who the star of the film is).  The Anderson Tapes includes “How To Play The Leading Man” (1:32) and “How To Hold Your Liquor” (1:28).  The Original Theatrical Trailer (2:58) is also thrown in for good measure.

The Bottom Line
How can you afford to miss this many great stars in one movie?  You can’t!