Elliott Gould steals Army nerve gas to help him rob banks when he’s kicked out of the military after 15 years of service as a human guinea pig in its chemical warfare experiments.
Acting
Gould's deadpan desperation makes toxic exposure weirdly charming.
Direction
Ted Post balances genuine anger with Looney Tunes lunacy.
Writing
Blackly comic script treats war crimes like a workplace grievance.
Director
Ted Post
Elliott Gould
Dudley Frapper
Eddie Albert
Colonel Lockyer
Harry Guardino
Chops Mulligan
Godfrey Cambridge
Dusty
Jennifer O'Neill
Lt. Scottie Hallam
Alan Manson
Det. Sgt. Poultry
Don 'Red' Barry
Sgt. Post
James Brown
State Trooper
Richard Masur
Lockyer's Aide
Karl Lukas
Bartender Wally
Howard Hesseman
Dr. Gopian
Philip Roth
Waiter
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Ted Post directed the second Dirty Harry film—this is his 'what if Harry was a useless con man' energy.
Released during post-Vietnam chemical weapons debates; the Army's human experimentation program was still classified when this mocked it.
US
