The Kidnapping of the President (1980) Crown International/Action-Thriller RT: 114 minutes Rated R (violence, language) Director: George Mendeluk Screenplay: Richard Murphy and Charles Templeton Music: Paul Zaza and Nash the Slash Cinematography: Mike Molloy Release date: August 15, 1980 (US) Cast: William Shatner, Hal Holbrook, Van Johnson, Ava Gardner, Miguel Fernandes, Cindy Girling, Elizabeth Shepherd, Michael J. Reynolds, Gary Reineke, Maury Chaykin, Murray Westgate, Ken Anderson, Sully Boyar, Aubert Pallascio. Box Office: N/A
Rating: ***
One of the rules of cinema I (jokingly) came up with in my youth is this: If Maury Chaykin (Soup for One, Def-Con 4) or Harvey Atkin (Meatballs, Visiting Hours) is in it, it’s Canadian. Well, it was true in most cases. I’m telling you this because Chaykin has a small role in The Kidnapping of the President, a Canadian-made action thriller starring William Shatner (whoa, another Canadian!) as a Secret Service agent tasked with rescuing the President (Holbrook, The Fog) after he’s taken prisoner by a South American revolutionary.
Directed by George Mendeluk (Stone Cold Dead, Meatballs III), The Kidnapping of the President is what’s known as a “tax shelter film”. That’s a film made in Canada between 1975 and 1982 when the federal government allowed investors to deduct 100% of their investment from their taxable income. Other movies falling under that category include The Silent Partner, Meatballs, City on Fire, Prom Night, My Bloody Valentine and Porky’s. Speaking as a connoisseur of trashy movies, some of them were pretty decent and others were garbage. The Kidnapping of the President (btw, LOVE that title!) is an example of the former.
President Adam Scott is about to embark on a diplomatic visit to Toronto despite being warned of a potential assassination attempt by his head of security, Agent Jerry O’Connor (Shatner). He’s right, there is something brewing. South American revolutionary Roberto Assanti (Fernandes, The Amateur), looking to finance his “cause”, plans to abduct the Commander-in-Chief and hold him in an armored truck until his demand for $100 million in diamonds is met. Not only is the vehicle wired to explode if anybody tries to tamper with it, he has an unknown accomplice (Girling, Meatballs) nearby should anything happen to him. While O’Connor races against the clock to rescue Scott, the final decision to pay the ransom or not lies with the Vice President (Johnson, Battleground). If it’s not paid, our country’s leader will die. If it is, it’ll make our country look weak in the face of terrorism.
For the record, Chaykin plays a third accomplice who’s killed early on in a shoot-out with police at a gas station. Too bad, he always brought something cool to the table. That being said, let’s talk about the rest of the movie. For one thing, The Kidnapping of the President plays like a made-for-TV movie with swear words and some bloody violence. There’s nothing especially theatrical about it. In fact, I don’t recall it ever playing in the Philadelphia area. As a 12YO movie lover with an interest in US Presidents, I would have been all over it. I can’t believe it’s taken me this long to watch it. But now I have and I like it for the most part.
If anybody can save the President, it’s William Shatner, a stalwart action hero whose previous job involved trekking around the stars. What can I say about Shatner that hasn’t already been said? His acting style is best described as singular. He’s always fun to watch especially when he tries to play it straight as he does here. He alone makes The Kidnapping of the President worth watching. However, I’d be remiss if I didn’t call attention to Ava Gardner’s (Earthquake) hammy performance as the Vice President’s wife. I can’t speak to her sobriety or mental state at the time of filming, but I get the impression she thinks she’s playing Lady Macbeth. Listen to her as she encourages her husband to make a power play by not paying the ransom. I actually laughed out loud. Holbrook is pretty good as President Scott even though we never get a “Get off my plane!” moment.
Adapted from co-writer Charles Templeton’s novel, The Kidnapping of the President is a decent late 70s/early 80s action-thriller. It moves along at a fairly nice clip. It has the usual story elements like the obligatory jurisdictional disputes with other federal law enforcement agencies. There’s always that one FBI agent who thinks he knows best, but really doesn’t. Released by Crown International Pictures, the same studio behind many a late 70s/early 80s drive-in T&A comedy, it’s a low budget piece which I think works in the picture’s favor. There’s a lot to be said for movies without superstars or costly action set-pieces. This way, the viewer can just focus on the rambling storyline. Hey, I never said The Kidnapping of the President is perfect.
It has its flaws, but I still like The Kidnapping of the President. I knew not to expect much going in; in turn, my expectations were exceeded a bit. The action scenes are well-mounted. The cast is more than capable. The story is engaging. Besides, how can I knock a picture whose poster has boxes with the stars’ faces under the title? This is a solid three-star flick!
