L'Enlèvement

I, accidently, came upon this film on the Starz Mystery Channel while channel surfing yesterday. I'm so very glad that I did. I found it to be a fast paced, suspenseful, sometimes humorous, caper "flick". IMHO, the entire cast of International actors is excellent. Telly Savalas and Robert Culp do a great job as two American WW2 military veterans who join forces with an ex German officer, nicely played by James Mason, to spearhead an attempt to retrieve $6 million in gold ingots hidden beneath a German air raid shelter during the war. To do so they must manage to get a German war criminal out of a top security prison where he is the only prisoner. Then, after getting the needed information concerning the whereabouts of the gold from him, they must get him back into his cell as if nothing had ever happened. Aldo Ray does a great job as the head noncom of the US contingent guarding the prisoner who, fortunately, is an old war buddy of Savalas and, for a price, agrees to aid in the caper. As the plot twists unfold, the suspense builds to a very satisfying conclusion. Near the end of the film there is a great scene of an exchange between Savalas as a bogus Army Major and the US Colonel who is in charge of the prison whenever the Americans are on watch. The conversation between Savalas and the Colonel is wonderful. The Colonel is extremely hostile but Savalas bluffs him with a classic conversational style containing a not too subtle threat to inform the proper authorities of the Colonel's non-cooperation. I found those few minutes to be priceless. For the most part, I found this movie to be free of the cliches that normally are found in a caper film. Also, the conclusion of the film is different than that of most other films of this type. If you watch this film I hope that you will enjoy it as much as I did.

Former German officer Ernst Furben comes to American wide-boy Harry Morgan with a story of stolen Nazi gold that has been hidden somewhere. The only man who actually knows where it is hidden is one Reinhard Holtz, who unfortunately is being held in prison for the rest of his life. Employing the services of Sly Wells, Aldo Ray and Hans Schmidt, Harry comes up with a plan to break Holtz out of the maximum security prison, get the location and recover the gold for themselves.

The plot summary makes it sound like a great caper movie with elements of Kelly's Heroes thrown in, its tongue in its cheek and a nice twisty plot. However from the faltering first steps with a clumsy flashback setup, the film fails to really ignite and, although parts are enjoyable and to-formula, it has too many bits thrown in that slow it down. The best bits are the parts where they must execute their plan and often it is so ludicrous that you have no option but to go along with it. These bits just about provide the caper feel that I was expecting but other times it takes itself too seriously and limits the sheer sense of fun that things like this need to survive.

This isn't helped by the visual style of the whole thing – or rather, lack of style. Parts of it look like it has been shot in an English northern town in the 1970's and to the eye it comes over as rather dull and dead. The horrible use of music is a real downer as well. Problems associated with the period perhaps but the overall impression is that the film generally lacked effort. On paper the cast seems to suggest that this is not true but in practice the lacklustre collection of performances just enforces the impression. Savalas just about turns up and, although he is a solid enough presence to almost get away with it, you can't help but feel like he is just taking the money and running. Mason is just as poor and turns in a rather dull performance that is far down the list in terms of his career. Culp is so-so, Ray is OK and the fact that Meisner stuck in my mind was probably more to do with the lack of competition as opposed to him being any good himself.

Overall then a fairly dull caper movie that will do little for fans of the genre or even those looking for entertainment. The plot is OK in parts but it generally lacks the fun and energy such a film needs to get by. It looks quite cheap and generally the impression given is a film made without a lot of effort or imagination which is probably a fair summary of it all told.

Riddled with bills, con artist Harry Morgan (Telly) cooks up caper with his "associates," in this dated, yet enjoyable flick. The turns and twists of the plot are not exactly breathtaking, but it's just plain good fun. It involves a plot to hatch out of prison an aging Nazi, who knows the location of a hidden stash of gold, and then put him back before the prison officials are any wiser. The plot complications arise from there, to bribery of certain US military types to bribery of certain Soviet military types(!). Eeghads! Now, don't you know Telly has a "full plate" with this movie?!

It actually comes off as pretty slick, humorous and at times, surreal. It is also a testament of the affection that many in Europe had for Mr. Savalas, whom when I lived there, was widely evident. With a strong, supporting, international cast; including James Mason, Robert Culp, Gunter Meisner and Aldo Ray, INSIDE OUT is quite enjoyable.

Very good film with very basic ideas. The authentic street scenes and close up acting were and still are very powerful and believable. Old world movie with a nice story and acting all round kept pace going well. A film you can watch then in another 20 years try it again.

Two rather likable but dodgy characters are persuaded by a German ex-army officer to co-operate with his plan to recover some Nazi gold some twenty five years later - various others are then roped in. A particularly ingenious plot makes this film a constant nerve-tingler, with extremely good use of music and atmospheric lighting, and small twists in the script to add further tension. The momentum is maintained right up to the very end. The characterisation is unusually original, each character having distinctive quirks, with the exception that the German plotter is portrayed somewhat stereotypically as entirely lacking a sense of humour or remorse. The dialogue is sharp and witty, with special effects relegated to a minimum, making a welcome change from the 1990s films which can be over-reliant on such devices. For those with an interest in retro-chic, the 1970s clothes & cars will add a further pleasure. Also of interest is the depiction of Berlin at the height of its Cold War division. A definite must-see for those who find modern mainstream films too heavy on explosions and too light on plot and dialogue.