99 And 44/100% Dead couldn't get off to a better start. Henry Mancini's catchy score blasts out over pop art-inspired credits. A body wearing concrete boots is dumped into the river and, as it sinks to the bottom, we see hundreds more concrete booted corpses dotted around the underwater landscape. Then in a comically sardonic voice-over by Richard Harris, we are introduced to the off-kilter characters and settings of this absurdist gangster comedy-thriller. In its opening five minutes, 99 And 44/100% Dead promises to be yet another box of delights from director John Frankenheimer. Alas, there are 92 minutes still to go… and the film runs out of ideas and inspiration faster than you can utter the title. All potential for a quirky black comedy quickly vanishes, replaced by a tedious and confusing mess that seems to go out of its way to embarrass its cast.Gangster Frank Kelly (Edmond O'Brien) controls the underworld of a city. That is until rival mobster Big Eddie (Bradford Dillman) declares open war against him. The city ain't big enough for the two of them, and pretty soon the streets become lawless killing fields where assassinations, gunfights and ambushes are part of daily life. Frank hires Harry Crown (Richard Harris), a tough and resourceful hit man, to help him to re-establish control. Harry finds himself waging war on Big Eddie's minions – including his old one-handed nemesis "The Claw" Zuckerman (Chuck Connors), who can fix various deadly weapons to the stump of his missing hand.Intended as a black comedy, 99 And 44/100% Dead simply isn't very funny. The title - which mocks a famous American soap commercial of the day – is every bit as haphazard and clumsy as the rest of the film. Harris has precious little to work with as the hero of the piece, but at least he does what he can. Bradford Dillman only features in a couple of scenes as Big Eddie, but in these scenes he manages to embarrass himself quite hideously in one of the decade's worst exhibitions of self-indulgence (second only to Peter Boyle's jaw-dropping display in Swashbuckler). Robert Dillman's script darts all over the place, paying little heed to character or logic. While the occasional bursts of action are competently staged, they don't fit around the rest of the narrative to create a coherent whole. Even a director of Frankenheimer's pedigree cannot sculpt the unwieldy mess into something solid and workable. In the final analysis, 99 And 44/100% Dead is a thorough let down from talents capable of much better.

The Spiegelman-esquire comic book artwork that promotes this film really enticed my curiosity, but the film overall didn't turn out to be as "far out" as the many reviews I read for it. It's good--Harry's cool, and the characters were fun, but the plot points are cliché and only the soundtrack really makes this a tongue-in-cheek satire of movie violence (it's Harry Mancini ala Pee Wee Herman). So, if you're looking for a really strange, arty, Mod satire watch Modesty Blaise, They Call Her One Eye, or A Clockwork Orange. Or, if you want amputees with strange devices watch Deadfall or any Alejandro Jodorowsky movie. The effort to track down and pay for a copy of this will perhaps disappoint.

The title refers to the now very old Ivory Soap claim of 99 and 64/100% Pure - and there is another "old" meaning for 'pure' that would be known to Frankenheimer and Dillon. It's another word for the material tanners would use in browning leather - dog turds. This should have been a clue to the humor to follow.This is an interesting and odd film.

The critics hate this movie (Maltin included) because they can't place it in a category. It is not a serious mob film (Godfather) nor is it a comedy (Johnny Dangerously) nor is it bumbling mob dark comedy (a la the recent Bruce Willis - Matthew Perry vehicle). Rather this is a cartoon. Note the introductory cartoon credits. The opening underwater scenes (two) and closing scene (envelope construction) are absolutely unique to American filmcraft and you don't know whether to laugh or be horrified. The lead character is an Englishman, brought over by an American mob boss and who must take off his glasses to shoot and carries automatic pistols with flowers carved in the ivory grips. Is this over the top or what? The enemy hitman has a hook (due to an amputation at our hero's hands) which he replaces with a wine bottle opener, artifical flowers, pruning shears, etc. Our hero also has a much younger, beautiful girlfriend (daytime teacher - nighttime club dancer wearing a feather top) who waits for his return hoping that this time he will make her his own (see 1000 other movies with that same device). Our hero tutors the younger mob wiseguy and both their girlfriends are kidnapped and abused by Mr. Big. Okay, so some of the movie is cliche and some is esoteric. The ambush at the bridge sequence is as visually stunning as any serious mob film. The shootout at the laundry scene is as good as the same scene in The Fugitive or the ending to Terminator. The sequence where Harry is pinned down by a sniper and his boss resces him by pulling up in an armored Rolls-Royce is great as the actors have their conversation while rounds skip off the roof. This is then followed by driving down a would be bomber who carries a bundle of dynamite like Wyle E. Coyote. Being filmed in Seattle, Florida and Los Angeles you never know whether you are supposed to be in New York or Chicago or where. Look for a Confederate Battle Flag during the parade scene where Harry re-enters the crowd. Look for Burt Young (Paulie from Rocky) as an uncredited mobster escorting Harry to see Bradford Dillman. You will be watching a one-of-a-kind movie, maybe not great or even good, but a movie unlike any other. Enjoy it for what it is.