Between "George M!" and "Goodtime Charlie" on Broadway, musical legend Joel Grey took time off from the stage for two films. One, "Cabaret", a classic movie musical (which won him a well-deserved Academy Award), and "Man on a Swing", a decent if not classic thriller that could have at least gotten him a second nomination. He's the rose on top of a very sour cake, filled with energy that is amazing yet disturbing. Much like his role as the emcee in the very different Broadway and movie versions of the Lander and Ebb musical. This is a typical 70's crime thriller, dealing with the murder of a teenage girl that seems impossible to solve, and it's pretty run-of-the-mill until Grey shows up. Cliff Robertson as the detective on the case has a suspicion of who the killer is, based on a previous case where a woman ("Dark Shadows" regular Clarice Blackburn) was brutally raped. She's a far cry from the dour housekeeper Mrs. Johnson in her one big scene, one that is brutally haunting.
Grey shows up first in a phone call saying that he has information about a case which he knows nothing about, stating that he never watches the news, or reads the newspaper or magazines, but has a feeling about something that they are investigating, based on his claim that he is a clairvoyant. When Grey begins to help the department, the film switches gears, and Grey is an absolute force of nature as he uses his lithe body as a tool of revealing things that the police had not released to the press. In fact, he's so cool in his way of revealing things that it becomes obvious to both the viewer and to Robertson that there's something off about him, in the way that makes a possible conclusion seem likely.
Once he is on screen, you can't take your eyes off of Grey, but the film itself is so vague in many other ways that it's difficult to really pinpoint what the truth is and why Grey feels he has to become involved in the first place. It is psychologically scary with Grey dominating in a supporting role just like Anthony Hopkins did with "Silence of the Lambs". Robertson goes through the paces of his role but it never seems that he is taking full advantage of the situation with Grey's oddball intrusion to play him to get him to slip up. Yet the vagueness of that aspect also keeps the viewer hooked because they never know when that element of surprise will pop to reveal everything. However, ultimately I felt let down outside of the cleverly manipulative performance of a man who only made a few films yet found great success singing and dancing and clowning on Broadway.
Grey shows up first in a phone call saying that he has information about a case which he knows nothing about, stating that he never watches the news, or reads the newspaper or magazines, but has a feeling about something that they are investigating, based on his claim that he is a clairvoyant. When Grey begins to help the department, the film switches gears, and Grey is an absolute force of nature as he uses his lithe body as a tool of revealing things that the police had not released to the press. In fact, he's so cool in his way of revealing things that it becomes obvious to both the viewer and to Robertson that there's something off about him, in the way that makes a possible conclusion seem likely.
Once he is on screen, you can't take your eyes off of Grey, but the film itself is so vague in many other ways that it's difficult to really pinpoint what the truth is and why Grey feels he has to become involved in the first place. It is psychologically scary with Grey dominating in a supporting role just like Anthony Hopkins did with "Silence of the Lambs". Robertson goes through the paces of his role but it never seems that he is taking full advantage of the situation with Grey's oddball intrusion to play him to get him to slip up. Yet the vagueness of that aspect also keeps the viewer hooked because they never know when that element of surprise will pop to reveal everything. However, ultimately I felt let down outside of the cleverly manipulative performance of a man who only made a few films yet found great success singing and dancing and clowning on Broadway.