Three Stars
Ennio Moriconne’s theme for Grand Slam (1967) is breezy and idiosyncratic and that’s an apt description of what you’re going to get from this caper flick. Grand Slam was an international production featuring a multinational cast and is framed around a retired teacher (Edward G. Robinson) assembling an international team to pull off a high stakes diamond robbery during Rio Carnival. The all-star cast and stunning locations lend some jet-setting fun to an otherwise fairly straightforward heist story.
The cast of characters includes an Italian electronics expert (Riccardo Cucciolla), a British safecracker (George Rigaud), a French playboy (Robert Hoffmann), and a German ex-military man broodingly portrayed by Klaus Kinski. This team is recruited by Professor James Anders (Robinson) with the help of his childhood friend turned crime boss (Adolfo Celi) to act out Anders’ watertight diamond heist that he has formulated by virtue of teaching across the road from the target bank for the last 30 years.
The team gathers in Rio from their various corners of the globe and begin to put things in place for the robbery. A critical part of the plan involves seducing a bank employee—Janet Leigh as Mary Ann—in order to obtain the safe room key. This seduction subplot is pretty clunky and we’re somehow supposed to buy that Janet Leigh is unattractive because her character wears glasses and a ponytail. Luckily the other preparations are technical and engaging and combined with the fun locations are enough to keep the viewer interested until it’s time for the main attraction.
The actual heist is executed wonderfully and is the main reason any fan of the genre should watch this immediately. Set against the backdrop of a raucous Carnival celebration, the crew pulls off a nearly noiseless caper—clearly owing some inspiration to Jules Dassin’s heist sequences. It’s high tension as Gregg and Rossi (Rigaud and Cucciolla) have to rappel, suction cup, and employ a telescoping ladder to get past guards, electric eyes, and vault doors—not to mention the Grand Slam 70 noise detector/alarm system. The entire sequence is a joy to watch and lasts nearly 30 minutes of the film’s two hour run time.
After the job, events unfold in a series of action sequences, double crossing, and further twists that result in a not-quite-satisfying conclusion. There are definitely narrative issues that irked me and it would have been nice to see Leigh better utilized, but the fantastic heist sequence matched with Morricone’s music and the incredible scenes of 60s Rio are more than enough to recommend Grand Slam to any heist fanatic.
Grand Slam was released on DVD by Blue Underground. The DVD is currently out of print, but there are copies out on the secondary market and the quality is pretty decent. I would love to see this get a Blu-Ray release with some commentary or other features though. Besides providing the best possible platform for that gorgeous Rio footage, the international productions often have some interesting behind the scenes stories (I mean, 7 people have writing credits on this thing) and that’s something I’d love to hear.
Clockwork Capers 