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Esmeralda Marini (Claudia Cardinale) arrives in New York to visit family friend and her father's friend Mike Harmon (Rock Hudson). He hasn't seen her since she was much younger. He is a strict by-the-book Police Captain. She is a flighty rebel and reveals that she's in possession of stolen jewels from the wealthy Fairchilds. Her criminal partner is the infamous thief Jackie Mitchell. Mike promises to help her return the jewels.

There must be a better way to do this. He's a cop. There must be some low life's home where he could claim to have found the jewels. The fact is that neither character would do this that they are proposing. They are both obviously lying and both should obviously know it. The other problem may be cultural. This is an Italian film and the young hot girl is obviously going to sleep with the older man. It doesn't help that he knew her when she was a child. There has to be a convoluted situation where she strip down to her underwear and gets sprayed on. All in all, this rubs me the wrong way and then the story is pretty dumb in the first place.

Italian-made caper-comedy (not released in the US until 1969) stars Rock Hudson as a married New York City police captain who becomes involved with gorgeous jewel thief Claudia Cardinale, the flirtatious daughter of an old friend. Her latest heist will take her to Austria...with the police chief as her unwitting accomplice. Hudson doesn't look any happier here than he did in "Seconds", leaving Cardinale (and her hair!) to pretty much walk away the picture. Stylishly put together in the manner of a '60s cigarette advertisement, the movie is supposed to be romantic and carefree yet it's too slight to hold interest for long. *1/2 from ****

"A Fine Pair" from 1968 is one big yawn of a caper film which stars Rock Hudson and Claudia Cardinale.

Rock plays NYPD Captain Mike Harmon. Esmeralda Marini, who knew him when she was a child in Italy, visits him. Her father was an Inspector, and Mike has precious memories of the six months he spent with the family. Esmeralda needs his help. She's a jewel thief who is reformed and wants to return some jewels to a prominent family before they arrive at their Kitzbuhel, Austria home. She wants Mike's help.

I'm going to stop right there. Mike Harmon has risen to the rank of Captain, but apparently brains had nothing to do with it since you can see the situation they get into coming from a mile away. As the story continues, it becomes more and more ridiculous. However, the convoluted plot, which consists of bringing a room temperature up to 134 degrees, gives male viewers a chance to see the incredible body of Cardinale when she strips down.

The two stars have no chemistry. I've always liked Rock Hudson, but he exhibits no personality here. Cardinale's character is not likable, though she did bring back memories of having that hairstyle.

Skip this.

This is a dreadful film. Rock Hudson speaks as if he were dubbed. Cardinale is unbearably kittenish and cutesy-poo as she deploys her three facial expressions and the "plot' is incomprehensible. Not one person acts as if she or he were a normal human being. It is hard not to lose the will to live after about half an hour of this tosh. The scenes of them behaving like idiots in Rome are straight out of the viagra school of advertising and one expects a voice over announcing that you should see a doctor if your boredom lasts for more than four hours. A forgettable score by Enrico Morrioni, an unbelievable script that seems to have been run through an automatic translation machine, two stars at the bottom of their game, direction, such as it is, that uses every cliché from caper films in seemingly random order--what's not to hate?

Despite the two prominent stars in its cast, "A Fine Pair" has never been released on home video, and is seldom broadcast on television. It doesn't take long upon watching it to figure out why it's been banished to obscurity. Though Hudson and Cardinale have shown talent and charm elsewhere, you wouldn't know it with this movie. Cardinale is downright annoying, and Hudson's obvious bored demeanor makes it clear he is wishing he was elsewhere. Needless to say, the scenes where the two are paired up - which make up most of the movie - generate absolutely no chemistry. But the problems with the movie go beyond the stars. The movie has an often cheap feel, from the tacky sets to the wretched dubbing. The biggest problem is that while it's a caper movie, it moves along at a deadly slow pace and generates no excitement or suspense. The only redeeming feature is the musical score by Ennio Morricone, though even fans of his will probably admit that this music is far from his best work.