Grand Slam

Grand Slam

From the most interesting new distributors in the US - Blue Underground - comes this often overlooked heist drama (aka AD OGNI COSTO) from the late 60s.

Retired schoolteacher Professor James Anders (Edward G Robinson) arrives in New York to visit an old friend, self-made millionaire Mark Milford (Adolfo Celi). Anders tells Milford of his plans to pull off the ultimate heist - robbing a Rio de Janeiro vault of $10m worth of diamonds during Carnival week in the world-famous city.

Anders presents a meticulously considered plan of the heist to Milford - renowned for his criminal underworld connections, and asks for his old friend's help in assembling an expert crew capable of pulling off such a daring feat.

True to form, Milford reveals his personnel files concealed behind a phony bookcase and the pair set about compiling a team of specialists in specific fields: electro-technician; military man; playboy and safe-cracker.

Anders' next task is to visit each of these specialists - and so we meet the main cast individually in great character-defining scenes.

Klaus Kinski gives a typically riveting performance as Sergeant Weiss. Anders explains to Weiss that "the plans ... must be carried out meticulously, everything is accounted for". Weiss' task is to plan the escape from the vault - and keep his lesser-disciplined accomplices in place!

Next up, we are introduced to the technician - Senor Rossi (Riccardo Cucciolla) who is initially reluctant to take part in the scam - until learning of his $1m cut of the takings ...

Greg is an unassuming butler situated in London. He's also one of the world's finest safe-crackers, and therefore is next on Anders' hitlist. George Rigaud fills this role with a typically British stiffness that oddly adds dimension to the character.

Last but not least, we get to meet Jean-Paul (Robert Hoffman), a French playboy infamous for his winning ways with the ladies. His role is to seduce the female bank clerk (Janet Leigh) who holds the key to the vault at all times.

And so, with this colourful cast of criminal masterminds established, they meet on a Sunny afternoon in Rio De Janeiro and events snowball from thereon in ...

It's unfair to give much more away for a film like GRAND SLAM. It's driven not only by great performances and countless unexpected plot turns, but also by anticipated moments such as Hoffman's persistent wooing of Leigh, and the eventual heist itself - which although we know are coming, are still hugely enjoyable due to the sheer class of their delivery.

The title refers to a hi-tech alarm system that has been installed in the main vault, capable of picking up the slightest sound. Hence, the actual vault scene is very tense and superbly executed for maximum effect. More recent mainstream fodder such as ENTRAPMENT and MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE have stolen from this Italian production, but with less impact. GRAND SLAM enjoys a very lengthy heist scene that consequently engrosses it's viewer in a way that many successors in this genre have failed to.

In fact, for a 2 hour film that's 35 years old, I'm delighted to say GRAND SLAM made for excellent viewing. The cast perform brilliantly, the script is plausible and never alludes to the excellent twists in store ... and Ennio Morricone's swinging score is very fitting in it's classy/trashy mix of moods.

Although this isn't traditional SGM fare by any means, it is a great film and a fine example of what the latest credible genre distributor out there is capable of.

The print used is superb. For a film of this age, and - in these times - relative obscurity, it looks stunning. What we get here is a nice sharp 2.35:1 presentation, anamorphically enhanced (of course). No colour bleeding or discernible scratches, and a perfectly clear image throughout. Sound is mono, and is consistently clear with no hiss or drop-out. A remarkable job.

Soundtrack is available in either English or French (both are mono).

The disc comes in a keepcase packaging, and the film itself is granted a pleasing 29 chapters. The original theatrical artwork (or close variations thereof!) on the front cover is a nice touch which Blue Underground seem to be striving for on their early releases. Nice one!

Extras are scarce, but taking into account the age of the film that's understandable.

The trailer is just shy of 4 minutes long and runs a risk of giving you most of the plot - but is great anyway. There's also a stills gallery of 40 pages: screen grabs from the film, lobby card stills and theatrical poster artwork.

My only gripe is that the inlay card - like many Anchor Bay titles - features Chapter titles that reveal far too much to virgin viewers. Even worse: there's a photo on the chapter page that suggests the (penultimate) twist! (anyone who was similarly distraught when they saw the killer's identity on AB's TORSO inlay card will know what I mean!!).

Please stop this trend, AB and BU!!

To summarise: this is a hugely enjoyable crime caper that despite it's age feels contemporary and reveals evident influence on the modern-day Tarantino style heist movie genre. The presentation is amazing, and the entertainment value to be had here is high too - so long as you ain't expecting blood'n'guts horror!

Review by Stuart Willis


 
Released by Blue Underground
Region All - NTSC
Not Rated
Ratio - Anamorphic widescreen
Extras :
Trailer; Stills Gallery
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