Flim Flam Man [VHS]

I love George C. Scott's rip-snorting performance as a train-hopping con-man whose legend precedes him. He literally stumbles upon a military AWOL drifter in Michael Sarrazin, and the unlikely pair join forces to make a little cash. Camping in abandoned railroad cars, hiking cross country and stealing a car or two, this colorful pair eventually has the county police hot on their tails. Along the way, Sarrazin falls in love with the mayor's daughter, Slim Pickens loses his paycheck (great scene) and Scott samples a bit of the local moonshine.

"The Flim Flam Man" is aided by a cast of extraordinary character actors, including Harry Morgan, Jack Albertson, Strother Martin, Albert Salmi and Pickens. Morgan, as the local sheriff, is especially funny in a grand slapstick role. But director Irvin Kershner has done an excellent job in balancing comedy, drama and romance with skilled ease. It's the quieter moments in "The Flim Flam Man" that I truly admire, such as the scene when Scott reminisces about the purple-eyed girl he once loved in Missouri, or when Sarrazin discusses his dreams of the future with Sue Lyon.

This is such a charming movie, that each time I watch it I'm sad to see it end. "The Film Flam Man" transports us to a dreamy Southern land, colorful and optimistic, train whistles in the background, vibrant town squares, campfires beneath railroad bridges, bustling general stores. While this film was made in 1967, the small town ambiance of "The Flim Flam Man" harkens back to a time 30-40 years prior. It's a romantic recreation, in some ways a tender tribute to a past way of life. I always find the final image, of the abandoned bicycle resting at the railroad crossing, to be haunting, with Scott's character having disappeared to rustic parts unknown. I would love to join him on his journey.

For those anacquainted, "The Flim Flam Man" is a great discovery.


Author's Wife   January 1, 2003
Dorothy J. Owen (North Wilkesboro, NC United States)
11 out of 11 found this review helpful

I liked this movie...The movie does differ from the book in a number of ways, but not with the basic philosophy. ..One: the movie was not set in rural Texas, but in North Carolina--although it was filmed in Kentucky as the producers thought the landscape there looked more like North Carolina than the real thing (go figure); second, there are blacks in the movie, in the general store at Ellers Bend, and there are black characters in the book, but none of them were being flim-flammed. I'd like the video even better if we received any royalties from it! I thought Scott was fine as Mordecai; Sarazin good as Curley (in spite of being a Canadian having to speak with a Southern accent); Harry Morgan was great as Sheriff Meshaw; Alice Ghostley and Jack Albertson fine as Mr. and Mrs. Packard; Sue Lyon adequate as the love interest. Minor characters (the Flim-Flamees), especially Slim Pickens, were excellent. I particularly liked the way the movie used the train motif--from the beginning, with Scott being thrown from a train, to the middle with the whistle in the background in the Slim Pickens scene, and wrapping the whole thing up at the end with the Flim-Flam Man's bicycle left behind at the railroad siding. This movie holds up well, even though it was filmed in 1967.


DVD Please   March 11, 2004
Vinny (New York, New York USA)
8 out of 8 found this review helpful

This movie is truly a classic. Very touching and funny is George C. Scott as Mordecai "the flim flam man". This could be classified as a road picture as Scott and Michael Sarrison an army deserter during the Vietnam War, go from town to town pulling scams on hicks who are also trying to get something for nothing. Henry Morgan is very funny as the sheriff chasing them. Where is the DVD for this movie. Sue Lyon who was a hottie in the 1960's plays the love interest of Sarrison, and daughter of Henry Morgan. Morgan starts out chasing a moonshiner named Dootle whom he thinks made his last escape by using an "anphobibias" vehicle. To not like this movie means you are humorless, there is a great car chase even by todays standards.


Unknown classic. One of the best   May 2, 2005
David L. Schoon (Norwich, Ct United States)
7 out of 7 found this review helpful

Very few people have actually heard of this movie, which is sad, because it's one of the greatest comedies ever made. George C Scott, portrays Mordecai Jones whose aim in life is to teach people the dangers of ignorance combined with greed. As he tells his new sidekick, he holds a MSBSCSDD degree; that is: Master of Back Stabbin' Cork Screwin' and Double Dealin'. The two of them proceed to teach these lessons to a variety of suitable subjects, with rolling on the floor laughing results. The car chase is possibly the funniest 8 minutes ever put on film. As Mordecai commented after virtually destroying the town, "They'll remember us in Clayton, boy". Not to be missed.


Dirty double-dealing arrives in the Old South   December 15, 2000
Joseph Haschka (Glendale, CA USA)
12 out of 14 found this review helpful

Prior to the legendary performance by George C. Scott in PATTON, my only exposure to this great actor had been THE FLIM-FLAM MAN, released in 1967. I actually saw it at a drive-in movie, which, for those too young to remember, was essentially a parking lot with a huge screen at one end. Patrons paid at an entrance kiosk, drove in, parked next to a speaker mounted at each parking space, and watched the show (unless, as might happen with young couples, hormone levels dictated inattention to the plot).

Scott plays Mordecai Jones, Master of Back-Stabbin', Cork-Screwin' and Dirty Double-Dealin'. While unfortunately regarded as a con artist by the general populace, he maintains that he profits only from the greed of others, and that an honest man can't be taken advantage of. In this comedy, his wanderings have brought him to the South, where he hooks up with Curley, a young Army deserter played by Michael Sarrazin. Along the way, the world savvy Mordecai teaches Curley lessons about life, while together they successfully fleece some of the region's less upright citizens. A basically decent kid, Curley suffers pangs of conscience over their scams, but remains sufficiently undebilitated to fall in love with a cutie played by Sue Lyon, daughter of a local Prominent Citizen.

The film has a marvelous cast of character actors familiar to Baby Boomers: Jack Albertson, Strother Martin, Albert Salmi, Slim Pickens, and Harry Morgan. Morgan (otherwise remembered as Joe Friday's partner on TV's DRAGNET, and as Colonel Potter on TV's MASH), is particularly good as the local-yokel sheriff out to nab our two heroes.

THE FLIM-FLAM MAN is a gentle, humorous fairy tale played out on a stage that could never exist. For instance, nary a single black is encountered as the story unfolds. And this is below the Mason-Dixon Line? However, that shouldn't detract from the affection that the viewer will feel for the wily and wise Mordecai, who is certainly a rascal, but a surprisingly honorable one. Light entertainment? Most assuredly. But, it doesn't get any better than this.