Fric frac, rue des diams

One with the Grodin narration, and one without. I suspect many of the negative reviews refer to the highly edited TV-version. Unfortunately, I'm not sure if the commercial VHS tape offered is the edited version, so caution is advised.

As a fan of heist films, I only recently learned of this rare film and had an opportunity to obtain the widescreen laserdisc presentation. And while it's true that this isn't a top-notch comedy or thriller, it's certainly better than you would think given the majority of less-than-flattering reviews here.

There are clever heist tricks - many of which have not been used again since this film. You know how much Hollywood likes to "borrow" clever ideas and use them over and over to the point where they become sad clichés. Well, you have to admire the use of cockroaches and chocolate cake to defeat an ultra-secure vault! How many times have you seen that done before? Or since?

If you're a fan of the heist genre or a Grodin devotee - this is a 'must see'. Otherwise, I'd wait 'til it gets a DVD release.

"11 Harrowhouse" is a heist film from 1974 starring Charles Grodin, Candice Bergen, James Mason, John Gielgud, Trevor Howard, and the recently deceased Peter Vaughan.

I, unfortunately, saw a bad print of this which took away from my viewing. I love heist films, and the robbery of jewels here is clever and entertaining, as is the car chase toward the end.

Grodin is a diamond trader, Howard R. Chesser, though he is not a major player. The Diamond Exchange in London, address 11 Harrowhouse, monitors the control of diamonds, hoarding tons of them to keep the value high.

A multi-millionaire, Clyde Massey (Howard) wants a large diamond named after him and gives the million-pound deal to Chesser. Alas, when Chesser and Maren (Bergen) go to have the diamond cut, it's stolen from them.

Massey then blackmails him and orders him to steal the four tons of diamonds at the Exchange. With the daredevil Maren and an inside man (Mason), Chesser gets to work.

The film painstakingly shows the planning and execution of the heist, so the real excitement is the car chase that takes place.

Grodin has that wry way about him that worked for the character. Though I love Candice Bergen, I've never held her acting in high esteem - her metier turned out to be comedy. She's beautiful - it's not a great role. And you can't go wrong with people like Gielgud, Mason, and Howard, all of whom are terrific.

Clever heist film, attractive stars, and entertaining.

Considering the pedigree of the cast it's odd that this film didn't do better. There's much to recommend this story of a diamond broker being maneuvered into robbing a London diamond exchange of its inventory (a caper involving such tools as a desperate employee, a piece of chocolate cake and a cockroach). The dialogue is liberally peppered with Grodin's wry voice-over commentary, and this film is one of the few places where his style of humor actually manages to work. It's no Topkapi, but a pleasant way to waste some time. Considerably more light-hearted than the Gerald Browne book on which it was based.

I am biased- I love this movie.

In the theaters when I was a kid it was so much fun thanks to the added commentary over the movie by Charles Grodin. It was dry and hilarious and brought the story to life. Years later, on a video I found at a store the narration was gone and the movie seems flatter.

It is a diamond heist movie filled with unique characters and it has a lighter tone than the novel it was based on which was not only darker and tougher but had a very different ending.

The mostly English cast is great, Candice Bergen is gorgeous, Grodin seems like an odd choice but by the end turns out to have been right for it, Michael Lewis' score is wonderful, and I laughed a lot (as did the rest of the audience in 1974). On top of that the caper plot is very clever and overall I think it is worth your time- if you like such things.

Now I don't share the views of that other critic. Many of Grodin's movie characters have similar traits.(See him in Catch-22) Really this is a worthwhile film and a good show. He seems to have left out one of James Mason's darker performances,as he sticks it to his stiff employer! Trevor Howard is delightful as a psychotic,eccentric billionaire.(How much money does the guy need?) The film is narrated by Grodin in a matter-of-fact way that adds to the dry humor. All of the actors pull off their characters well...

P.S. I watch a great deal of movies.