Multiple countries producing.......multiple nationalities of actors, all speaking their own language, all later to be dubbed in........multiple European and United States locations......scripts assembled by a multiple teams of four or more writers.......
What could possibly go wrong?
Usually, everything. But oh, how we loved them anyway.........and every so often, miracle of miracles, one or two of them would seriously qualify as a good movie.
We give you "Grand Slam" as proof of that, one of our two all-time favorite Big Heist movies done as Euro-Mash-Up Co-Productions........(the other being "They Came To Rob Las Vegas", covered in a previous post - 'What happens in Spain, Stays In Spain')
Right out of the starting gate, you get Ennio Morricone's rollicking, infectious title theme, as elderly schoolmaster Prof. Anders (Edward G. Robinson) retires from his teaching position at a Rio elementary school. (Morricone peppers the ultra-brassy, bouncy music with the mocking voices of singing schoolgirls.....hilarious and brilliant.)
The Prof flies immediately to New York to enlist his boyhood friend Milford (Adolfo Celi) in funding the Prof's grand scheme to steal a load of diamonds from the Rio bank across the street from the Prof's old school.
For a 4 man team to pull off the job, wealthy gangster Milford gives Prof. Anders access to his vast files of professions and personalities.........(the category labels are priceless, the film's one and only attempt at humor.......killers, playboys, atomic scientists, homosexuals.....the Vatican)
Off to Rio they go, to execute the Prof's outrageous diamond heist plan right in the middle of the world famous Carnival.........and we would not dare go into the improbable, impossibly complex details of this caper, other than to say it more than rivals the classic Jules Dassin robberies in "Rififi" and "Topkapi".....and it constitutes a big portion of the fun in this movie.....
Prior to the crime, Kinski more than fulfills his task of scaring the crap out of everybody and hunka-hunka-burnin'-love Hoffman tries his damndest to romance the diamond bank's shy introverted secretary (Janet Leigh, hiding behind horn-rimmed glasses).......the master plan requires Hoffman to get into Janet's pants so he can better get into her pocketbook and swipe the bank key that the crooks desperately need.
Loads of stuff to love here.......fantastic Rio Carnival footage, an especially dreamy Morricone love theme for Hoffman's seduction of Leigh, that marvelously clever, nail-biting heist.....
.......and best of all, (as all movies like this should have), an eye-poppin', jaw-droppin' plot twist to finish it all off.
No Guilty Pleasure here (as are most of our beloved international co-productions)......this one's the real deal, an honestly entertaining gem. BQ grabs a full load of 5 diamonds (*****) for "Grand Slam"....a FIND OF FINDS. Join up with this gang as soon as you can.....
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