Charles Bronson stars as Raymond St.Ives, an ex-crime reporter hired by Oliver Procane(John Houseman) to negotiate the return of some stolen files that Procane desperately wants back. Soon after, he finds himself the target of killers, and determines to find out who wants him dead, and why, though the trail can't help but lead back to Procane in some way... Jacqueline Bisset costars as a mysterious associate of Procane, though that doesn't mean she is adverse to becoming involved with St. Ives.Unusual role for Bronson, who is still good, as is the rest of the cast, but story isn't too compelling, nor that satisfying to be of more interest, though it remains watchable enough.

Warner Bros. have been at their busiest in 1976. Charles Bronson who was known 2 years earlier with "Death Wish" put a touch of magic in "St. Lives". Bronson plays Raymond St. Ives, a crime writer, and former cop who gets intrigued with a burglar named Abner Procane (John Houseman, 1902-88) whose journals got stolen from his safe. He gets St. Ives involved to deliver $100, 000 to the people responsible. The first attempt resulted in the death of the person at the laundromat. Then more people get killed, including the motorcycle policeman Fran(Burr DeBenning). Cloak and Dagger have never been so fun. St. Ives couldn't get enough action as he would. Though he never used a gun much. This movie to me was very fun, it has some future stars: Daniel J. Travanti before "Hill Street Blues", Jeff Goldblum, Robert Englund, way, way before "V" and "A Nightmare on Elm Street". This movie is perfect for mystery lovers, and it can leave you very intrigued. A very big keeper here. I enjoyed this movie very much! 3.5 out of 5 stars

Even if not filmed in that recognizable style, this thriller's plot could be deemed noir-ish – with Charles Bronson as the outwardly cool but increasingly bewildered hero, and where the Jacqueline Bisset character is eventually revealed as a femme fatale.This was the star's first of 9 films with director Thompson, and it's also one of his better vehicles (which, again, I had inexplicably missed out on several times on TV in the past). Generally enjoyable and fast-paced, though needlessly convoluted, it definitely benefits from a strong cast – including John Houseman as the mysterious old man (and something of a Silent movie aficionado) who gives Bronson a deceptively simple assignment which soon turns deadly; Maximilian Schell as Houseman's physician (suffering from a bad cold throughout) who also transpires to be not quite what he seems; ditto Tweedle-Dee and Tweedle-Dum cops Harry Guardino and Harris Yulin; Burr De Benning as a traffic cop with ambitions above his station; Dana Elcar as a sympathetic Police Captain; Michael Lerner (who appears far too briefly) as Bronson's flustered lawyer; genre stalwart Elisha Cook Jr. as a hotel desk-clerk who's perennially asleep on the job, and even Jeff Goldblum and Robert Englund as thugs (who contrive to throw Bronson down an elevator shaft)! There's also a good, upbeat score by Lalo Schifrin.Though the all-important drive-in sequence towards the end becomes unintentionally amusing – when the same stampede sequence (as far as I could tell, it's taken from the Warners-produced John Wayne vehicle CHISUM [1970]) is repeated over and over! – the film makes up for this with the busy climax, which as I said, provides a number of twists. It's capped, then, by a wonderful coda involving Bronson's bemused reaction to the incorrigible Bisset's wiles (he leaves her in the embarrassed Elcar's custody).

This film is great like all his films...I really love this film, it's a change of pace for the guy but he's great as a kick ass bad ass.People complained cause he always played the good guy for 20 years, so what, he played a bad guy for 20 years in the 50 and 60's.What this film, it's great man, just watching that guy on the screen act is good enough for me.All you have to do is watch the film, when it's on, just press the TV button and there it is, as i say at a time like this, it's all in the reflexes....