"Machine Gun McCain" director Giuliano Montaldo's "Grand Slam" qualifies as one of those traditional perfect heist capers where crime doesn't pay, as in "The Asphalt Jungle," "Topkapi," "Any Number Can Win," "The Anderson Tapes," and "The Italian Job." Furthermore, the mastermind of this audacious thriller is an elderly gentleman who assembles a team of experts to execute his 'meticulous' plan to the letter. Edward G. Robinson adds a certain grandeur to "Grand Slam" as a retired school teacher who has spent 30 years teaching in Rio de Janeiro when he hasn't been filming deposits at a diamond company occupying the building across the street from the school. Formulaic from fade-in to fade-out, "Grand Slam" ranks as one of the better examples of the genre. This nimble thriller opens with our protagonist consulting the mob in New York City to recruit an international gang that have no criminal records. Robinson personally speaks to each and then the heist occurs and everything comes full circle back to the mastermind and his moll. Not only do Montaldo and his writers put plenty of obstacles in the path of the criminals, but he also generates palatable suspense during the robbery. Cynicism, greed, treachery and surprise sets during the rollicking the second half.
Retired history professor James Anders pauses on the way to boarding his jet at Rio de Janeiro airport to listen as young students from a Catholic School serenade him before he flies off to New York City. In the Big Apple, Anders visits an old friend, Mark Milford (Adolfo Celi of "Thunderball"), who has acquired a notorious reputation as an underworld figure, though armed bodyguards surround him. Anders goes out to Milford's residence. Milford and he discuss old times and then Anders presents him with an innocuous 8mm film reel and they watch as Ander's describes his former occupation and the school where he taught history. Opposite it looms the building for a Brazilian diamond vault. Milford selects four men—a safecracker Gregg (Georges Rigaud), a gigolo Jean-Paul Audry (Robert Hoffmann), a strong arm man Erich Weiss (Klaus Kinski of "For a Few Dollars More"), and an electronics technician Agostino Rossi (Riccardo Cucciolla) to carry out his plan. He promises to pay each of them a million dollars when they split the loo. Anders buys each man a lighter that is identical and they use these lighters for their criminal cohorts to recognize them. Ander interviews each of his accomplices before he vanishes from the action and they perform the crime.
"Grand Slam" is predictable in the sense that the writers foreshadow the flaws in the plan too well. Happily, each character is etched with nuance enough to support their motivation. Kinski is believable as the never-say-die Nazi and Robinson is brilliant as the professor. "Grand Slam" is not without irony. Although the perpetrators don't escape with the loot, they are neither arrested nor face imprisonment. This movie contains a scene that the people who made "Entrapment" must have known about in advance because it so closely imitates the scene. The vault scene with the infrared light beams that criss-crossed the area reminded me of "Entrapment." The quirky Ennio Morricone orchestral soundtrack enhances the plot. Lenser Antonio Macasoli, who photographed both "Cannon for Cordoba" and "Guns of the Magnificent Seven," makes everything look impeccably cinematic, even the opening aerial shots around New York City. Sergio Leone's editor Nino Baragli cut things together. The process shots of Robinson in Rio at the airport look abysmal. Nevertheless, "Grand Slam" is an above-average perfect crime caper with more than enough suspense and surprises.
Retired history professor James Anders pauses on the way to boarding his jet at Rio de Janeiro airport to listen as young students from a Catholic School serenade him before he flies off to New York City. In the Big Apple, Anders visits an old friend, Mark Milford (Adolfo Celi of "Thunderball"), who has acquired a notorious reputation as an underworld figure, though armed bodyguards surround him. Anders goes out to Milford's residence. Milford and he discuss old times and then Anders presents him with an innocuous 8mm film reel and they watch as Ander's describes his former occupation and the school where he taught history. Opposite it looms the building for a Brazilian diamond vault. Milford selects four men—a safecracker Gregg (Georges Rigaud), a gigolo Jean-Paul Audry (Robert Hoffmann), a strong arm man Erich Weiss (Klaus Kinski of "For a Few Dollars More"), and an electronics technician Agostino Rossi (Riccardo Cucciolla) to carry out his plan. He promises to pay each of them a million dollars when they split the loo. Anders buys each man a lighter that is identical and they use these lighters for their criminal cohorts to recognize them. Ander interviews each of his accomplices before he vanishes from the action and they perform the crime.
"Grand Slam" is predictable in the sense that the writers foreshadow the flaws in the plan too well. Happily, each character is etched with nuance enough to support their motivation. Kinski is believable as the never-say-die Nazi and Robinson is brilliant as the professor. "Grand Slam" is not without irony. Although the perpetrators don't escape with the loot, they are neither arrested nor face imprisonment. This movie contains a scene that the people who made "Entrapment" must have known about in advance because it so closely imitates the scene. The vault scene with the infrared light beams that criss-crossed the area reminded me of "Entrapment." The quirky Ennio Morricone orchestral soundtrack enhances the plot. Lenser Antonio Macasoli, who photographed both "Cannon for Cordoba" and "Guns of the Magnificent Seven," makes everything look impeccably cinematic, even the opening aerial shots around New York City. Sergio Leone's editor Nino Baragli cut things together. The process shots of Robinson in Rio at the airport look abysmal. Nevertheless, "Grand Slam" is an above-average perfect crime caper with more than enough suspense and surprises.