Unwillingly to Vegas

In their less than satisfying seventh outing, that odd British couple--buxom, scatty barmaid Mavis Pringle and grumbling retired tax inspector G.D.H. Pringle--are lured to Las Vegas by a gang that plans a $23 million heist, using Pringle as fall guy. Paying more attention to the intricacies of the scheme--scheduled during a charity telethon presided over by Frank Sinatra--than to developing her characters, Livingston fails to fully exploit the potential ironies of two decent English villagers confronting Las Vegas-style greed. We know from the start that each of the four principals in the plan hopes to double-cross his partners, and we suspect that the flinty Pringle will find some way to foil their designs. The caper is distinctly unfunny, beginning with four murders and a dog whose throat is cut. Inappropriate Briticisms (``caravan'' for ``trailer''; ``I shall'' spoken by an American gangster) jar as Livingston ( Mayhem in Parva ) comes up lemons in Vegas. (Sept.)