This is a pretty good caper film, stylish and witty, but it loses its grip a little in the last 15 minutes.
Charles Grodin plays a small time jewellery dealer, Howard R. Chesser, who travels to London to conduct business with 'The System' located at 11 Harrowhouse, an enormously prestigious and snooty diamond trading house. 'The System' is run by the equally snooty Mr Meecham, played by John Gielgud – one of the film's trio of top British actors who were a fair way along in their careers by the mid 70's.
Chesser is offered a big diamond deal by mega-wealthy Clyde Massey, played by Trevor Howard with the ham gauge set on the highest level. Events lead to Chesser breaking into 11 Harrowhouse to steal the entire stock of diamonds. He is helped by Charles Watts, an unassuming Harrowhouse assistant out for revenge. Watts is played by James Mason, an actor with one of cinema's most distinctive voices, like George Sanders, he was smooth from the start to the finish of his career.
Chesser is also helped by his girlfriend, Maren Shirell, played by Candice Bergen in a role that is reminiscent of Grace Kelly in "Rear Window" – glamorous, poised, and adventurous.
The film is in the same spirit as "Arabesque", "How to steal a million" and "Charade" and quite a few others of the 60's and 70's. It features an inventive jewel robbery, much of it played out on the rooftop of 11 Harrowhouse; although that sequence is marred by bad matching between the location and the studio shots.
Charles Grodin's offbeat style was not unlike Bob Newhart's – a bland, milquetoast exterior concealing underlying insolence. Grodin also supplies droll, running commentary on the action in voice-over, somewhat like someone showing home movies. This works pretty well up until the end where the commentary seems disconnected with what is happening on screen. When Grodin says at some length that he can't understand why Howard and his associates are chasing him, it's obvious why they are.
Apparently there was another version of the film without Grodin's voice-over, but I suspect it was added because it was felt something was needed – the long chase sequence at the end is as drawn out and tedious as those things often were in this kind of film.
Despite the odd lapse, the film still has much that works – an ingenious robbery, the tongue in cheek delivery of Grodin, a dazzling Candice Bergen, and a line-up of legendary, albeit aging, British stars of the period.
Charles Grodin plays a small time jewellery dealer, Howard R. Chesser, who travels to London to conduct business with 'The System' located at 11 Harrowhouse, an enormously prestigious and snooty diamond trading house. 'The System' is run by the equally snooty Mr Meecham, played by John Gielgud – one of the film's trio of top British actors who were a fair way along in their careers by the mid 70's.
Chesser is offered a big diamond deal by mega-wealthy Clyde Massey, played by Trevor Howard with the ham gauge set on the highest level. Events lead to Chesser breaking into 11 Harrowhouse to steal the entire stock of diamonds. He is helped by Charles Watts, an unassuming Harrowhouse assistant out for revenge. Watts is played by James Mason, an actor with one of cinema's most distinctive voices, like George Sanders, he was smooth from the start to the finish of his career.
Chesser is also helped by his girlfriend, Maren Shirell, played by Candice Bergen in a role that is reminiscent of Grace Kelly in "Rear Window" – glamorous, poised, and adventurous.
The film is in the same spirit as "Arabesque", "How to steal a million" and "Charade" and quite a few others of the 60's and 70's. It features an inventive jewel robbery, much of it played out on the rooftop of 11 Harrowhouse; although that sequence is marred by bad matching between the location and the studio shots.
Charles Grodin's offbeat style was not unlike Bob Newhart's – a bland, milquetoast exterior concealing underlying insolence. Grodin also supplies droll, running commentary on the action in voice-over, somewhat like someone showing home movies. This works pretty well up until the end where the commentary seems disconnected with what is happening on screen. When Grodin says at some length that he can't understand why Howard and his associates are chasing him, it's obvious why they are.
Apparently there was another version of the film without Grodin's voice-over, but I suspect it was added because it was felt something was needed – the long chase sequence at the end is as drawn out and tedious as those things often were in this kind of film.
Despite the odd lapse, the film still has much that works – an ingenious robbery, the tongue in cheek delivery of Grodin, a dazzling Candice Bergen, and a line-up of legendary, albeit aging, British stars of the period.