We could never get our fill of these when they flourished from the mid 1960's to the early 1970's.....incredible projects that involved the collusion of filmmakers and actors from three or more countries. Mostly they were crime thrillers, James Bond imitations or the gory 'Giallo' slasher mysteries (another wacky genre we promise we'll dive more deeply into later..)
The casts of these films usually sported a few familiar American actors leading a supporting bunch recruited from every European country involved in the film's production......with everyone delivering their lines in their original language. This literal tower of babble would then be completely post-synchronized with an English dubbed soundtrack......in which the primitive sound quality gave you the impression that they jammed the entire cast into one phone booth.....
But for us, that became part of these movies'charms, along with the muddy, grainy color photography that came from their use of Techniscope, a cheapo wide screen process, sort of a supermarket generic version of Panavision.....
"They Came To Rob Las Vegas", as you might have already guessed, is a cold-blooded 'impossible heist' caper, this one involving the hijacking and virtually magical disappearance of an impregnable armored car loaded with Vegas casino cash. You could never get the United Nations to accomplish much,but Spain, France, Italy and Germany all came together to concoct this epic.
Our mastermind, played by monotone hunk Gary Lockwood, fresh from his monotone hunk demise in '2001', is at least ahead of his time in the diversity of his gang.....most of them carry on gay banter like they're auditioning for a dinner theater revival of 'The Boys In The Band'. Gary, however, in his studly function part of the plan,, has bedded and recruited the luscious personal assistant (Elke Sommer, with eye makeup always slathered on) of the armored truck company chief. (Lee J. Cobb)
Cobb's been using his armored trucks, which look like RVs outfitted to vacation in Syria war zones, to also transport gold for the mob's Mexican branch. Hot on his tail in this regard comes a relentless Treasury agent (Jack Palance), who maintains a steely composure until sometimes losing his temper.....then he looks like he's having a sudden attack of gas.....
Now the real fun begins......Lockwood and his merry band seize one of Cobb's trucks and manage to shlep it into a big hole they've dug in the middle of the Nevada desert......well, actually the Spanish desert of Almeria, , that famously familiar landscape of a thousand Italian westerns. (Practically no one in this cast gets anywhere near Las Vegas)....But to the everlasting grief of the Gary gang, they discover one of Palance's Treasury agents parked inside the truck.....with a machine gun....
You don't really root for anyone here......the gang murders truck guards and Lockwood orders the execution of an innocent motorist who stumbles upon the truck burial operation. ...the movie, like its Italian western counterparts, casts a cold, distant eye on the proceedings, which makes perfect sense given its bitterly ironic, fatalistic conclusion.
But it has a glossy, glitzy style to it that still keeps us riveted every time we watch it. The director, Antonio Isasi, abhors camera movement, so he accomplishes his action sequences with quick cutting and multiple camera angles. And this movie's MVP is without a doubt composer Georges Garvarentz, who deftly scores the whole thing with a catchy mixture of jazzy pop and a memorable, haunting 'wordless song'. (Early in the film, putting this tune on a record player, Lockwood comments how it always gets to him......and we agree.)
Yes, we do realize a film like this is a particular acquired taste.....but, hey that's why people start blogs, right? And among the strange, odd collections of International Co-Productions.....this lists among our favorites. For all its unique flaws and foibles, this mostly-made-in-Spain Vegas caper make for an entertaining couple of hours.....so we'll hijack 3 & 1/2 stars (*** 1/2).....we still can't get that damn wordless song out of our head.......
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