Lady in Cement

Lady in Cement(1968)

R
11/19/1968 (US)Mystery, Crime, Thriller1h 33m
6.1

"A beautiful body under water. A private eye in over his head."

Overview

While diving for sunken treasure, street-smart gumshoe Tony Rome finds the body of a gorgeous blonde, her feet stuck in a block of cement. Soon after, tough guy Waldo Gronski hires him to find a missing woman named Sandra Lomax, and Rome wonders if there's a connection. He sets about trying to locate the woman, and in no time finds himself mixed up with a beautiful party girl and a slippery racketeer.

Gordon Douglas

Director

Jack Guss

Screenplay

Marvin H. Albert

Screenplay

Where to Watch

Stream

fuboTV
YouTube TV

Powered by JustWatch

Popularity Trend

Last 30 Days
This chart shows the popularity trend over the past 30 days.

Part of the Tony Rome Collection

Media

Lady in Cement 1968 Trailer

Lady in Cement 1968 Trailer

Trailer

Social

J
A review by John Chard
7.0

Written on February 2, 2020

Stay Loose!

Lady in Cement is directed by Gordon Douglas and adapted to screenplay by Marvin H. Albert (from his own novel) and Jack Guss. It stars Frank Sinatra, Raquel Welch, Richard Conte, Martin Gabel, Lainie Kazan, Maria Baretto and Dan Blocker. Music is by Hugo Montenegro and cinematography is by Joseph F. Biroc.

While diving for sunken treasure, Private Investigator Tony Rome (Sinatra) finds the body of a gorgeous blonde, her feet stuck in a block of cement. When he is hired to find a missing woman by Waldo Gronsky (Blocker), Rome thinks there might be a connection with the lady in cement. Soon, though, Rome finds himself mixed up with dodgy underworld types and the beautiful Kit Forrest (Welch)…

A sequel to the previous year's hit Tony Rome, this follow up mixes raw cynicism with a colourful tone to present a Chendleresque detective thriller. The Florida settings are most pleasing, and act as a sort of bum steer since they hide some of the murk that Rome has to wade through. Sinatra quips away hard-boiled style, Blocker steals the film as a serious muscle head, while Welch is a sex bomb picture.

This was the winding down period of Sinatra's movie career, and thus there was a tendency of critics to suggest he was just marking time here in this one. This isn't so, he's having fun in the role (again), and since he also made the far darker (and superior) "The Detective" this same year, he was hardly sleep-walking through his roles. Lady in Cement keeps itself busy, violent and cheekily sexy, whilst simultaneously giving us a detective mystery that never bores. 7/10