Dreary French/Italian production plods along in the South of France finding Bronson as an ex-army con on the run trying to make a new life for himself after dumping his army associates at the prison gates. Surprise, surprise, they turn up soon enough looking for some payback lead by James Mason looking and sounding rather stayed with an American Southern drawl. Bronson reels this one in on auto drive playing the usual tough guy he's played a hundred times before, but seems way out of his depth outside of the fleeting action scenes, and uncomfortably wooden especially beside Liv Ullman playing his naive wife. Bronson not surprisingly relaxes more by his (off screen) wife Jill Ireland who also plays a pathetic stereo typical 'wild child.'
From a dull start, this film continues to amble on even when Mason and his henchman show, it is only when Bronson has to fight off a ticking clock both in the story and the film's evaporating running time does 'Cold Sweat' come alive, with an obligatory but none the less well executed car chase. After Bronson ditches the car 'Cold Sweat' reverts back to it's predictable proceedings and inevitable conclusion, resulting in a regrettably thin Bronson vehicle, all the more surprising considering it was based on a Richard Matheson story and directed by Terence Young, of early Bond films such as 'Dr No' and 'Thunderball.'
From a dull start, this film continues to amble on even when Mason and his henchman show, it is only when Bronson has to fight off a ticking clock both in the story and the film's evaporating running time does 'Cold Sweat' come alive, with an obligatory but none the less well executed car chase. After Bronson ditches the car 'Cold Sweat' reverts back to it's predictable proceedings and inevitable conclusion, resulting in a regrettably thin Bronson vehicle, all the more surprising considering it was based on a Richard Matheson story and directed by Terence Young, of early Bond films such as 'Dr No' and 'Thunderball.'