Top Job

An elderly school teacher (the late great Edward G. Robinson) employs an electrotech (Riccardo Cucciolla) , a playboy (Robert Hoffmann), a safe cracker (Georges Rigaud), and a military man(Klaus Kinskey) to complete a daring heist of 10 million in diamonds from a vault in Rio De Janeiro. This crime caper has a good buildup, the heist suitably engrossing. I could see the end coming (mostly), but that didn't detract much from my overall enjoyment of the movie. It still remains among the top caper movies that I've seen.

My Grade: B+

Blue Underground DVD Extras: Poster and Stills Gallery; and Theatrical Trailer

Eye Candy: blink and you'll miss tiny boobies courtesy of Jussara

This film belongs to the top ten that the sixties decade provided us, a gritty heist movie without comedy. Admit that the Italian co productions of those years were mostly semi comedy topics, maybe not hilarious, but light hearted. Once again, we have Edward G Robinson involved in a major heist, remember him in THE SEVEN THIEVES, directed by Hank Hathaway, back in 1959. No realism here, only myth and excitement, a great film de genre, on the same scale as SEVEN GOLDEN MEN, but maybe more serious though. Casting over the top for this kind of feature. And what I like the most in this picture is that there is no ONLY, UNIQUE lead character, but a bunch of lead ones, and not played by super stars, not widely known actors. The most known : Adolfo Celli and Eddy Robinson have only supporting roles, and at the lowest level. The influence of RIFIFI, TOPKAPI, CAPER OF THE GOLDEN BULLS is so obvious, for the heist itself, with no talk, and also the technological part of the preparation, with the alarm system and the safe. Rather dark story for this kind of topic. No light hearted for sure.

This is a truly great caper in the RIFIFI tradition, with plenty of twists and surprises, spectacularly high-tech (for its day) action set pieces and glamorous location work in Rio de Janeiro, Rome and around the world. Many other capers since THE GRAND SLAM have borrowed shamelessly from it -- ENTRAPMENT being the latest that springs to mind -- but, trust me, this one did it better than the rest all the way to its uncompromising, un-Hollywood ending. This is the one to catch if it's ever around again!

Released in the USA by Paramount as GRAND SLAM in the late sixties, this slickly-made heist film is a first-rate effort exploiting the Jules Dassin classic, RIFIFI. The all-star international cast is exceptional, with Klaus Kinski being the standout. One of the best of it's kind, and still enjoyable today. Ennio Morricone wrote the eclectic score, featuring some catchy bossa-nova tunes to complement the location. Thanks to Image Entertainment, the picture is now available on DVD in a widescreen version to capture all the excitement! Check it out.

Rififi is a great movie, and like most great movies; it's often imitated, although unlike films such as The Exorcist, Jaws and Alien; the Rififi imitations are usually quite good. The field is lead by Jean-Pierre Melville's masterpiece 'The Red Circle', but following hot on its heels is this excellent little Italian thriller. Grand Slam mixes an intricate plot, interesting characters and a bucket load of style and the result is a film that constantly thrills and entertains. The plot follows the fortunes of a varied group of criminals brought together to carry out a daring robbery. Schoolteacher James Anders notices a chance in Rio de Janeiro to steal ten million dollars in diamonds and contacts his friend who gets in touch with several specialists to carry out the job. Aside from the obvious safe crackers, they also recruit a tried and tested womaniser to steal a key from a secretary. Everything is put into place for the robbery to go to plan, but naturally there are more twists and turns in store for thieves to deal with.

Grand Slam is an Italian film but features a host of international talent, including Hollywood performers Edward G. Robinson and Janet Leigh acting alongside cult stars such as Klaus Kinski, Robert Hoffmann and Adolfo Celi. The cast comes together very well and it's thanks to the great performances that this film works so well. Director Giuliano Montaldo keeps things ticking over nicely and the build up to the heist is always interesting. Naturally given the film's influences; the heist itself is a timed and careful (also wordless of course) affair that keeps the audience on the edge of their seats. The Rio de Janeiro setting provides some lovely locations and the film does look very nice on the whole. With the focus being on the plot, you can expect some twists in the tale and Grand Slam certainly does no disappoint in that respect as the film features a great twisted ending that fits what went before it very well indeed. Overall, Grand Slam is an excellent heist flick that more than does the classic French film that influenced it justice. Recommended!