I diamanti dell'ispettore Klute

Dr. Bombay is wrong about this film being made for TV.

It was always intended to be a feature, produced by the General Electric subsidiary, Tomorrow Entertainment. It suffered along the way from problems with the script and was delayed several times.

Alan Trustman, a lawyer and the author of the film, remained mostly in Boston during development, which hindered the process of fixing the script.

While Tomorrow Entertainment did indeed produce many fine TV movies, Lady Ice was one of two features developed by the company. The other was Gravy Train, a bit of cult classic. After the limited success of these films the company concentrated on TV movies.

Is this a great movie? Well, no, it's not. But what's really amazing here is that we are able to see it at all. Thanks, Prime! As a kid in the 70s and 80s, and continuing on as a young adult into the 90s, I was pretty sure I had watched just about every action/adventure/cops&robbers flick that came out between 1960 and 1995. At least the ones that had any kind of a star. I had never even heard of this one until I saw it available included with Prime. It's the kind of movie I would have loved as a kid. At this point, I'm sophisticated enough in my judgement of a film to realize that this one is a mess. And while many of the plot points don't seem to make a lot of sense, the film moves along steadily towards what you imagine will be some kind of an interesting conclusion. The ending, along with many other parts of the film is a bit strange, but somehow satisfying. Not much of this movie goes as expected. It's uneven, but it does keep you more interested that a standard formulaic offering. I really enjoyed the performances of the three main stars. Donald Sutherland is sure fun to watch, even if the character did something no real person would ever do about every ten minutes. Jennifer O'Neill has a great energy in every movie I've seen her in. Robert Duvall! He was super solid in a movie where everything else was kind of all over the place. To really enjoy a movie like this, a big part of it has to come from just wanting to see what was going on in the business in 1973. What did the world look like? How was everyone dressing? What were they driving? What were these actors doing in between making really good movies? If you've got an inquiring mind, and really want to know, check this movie out. If not, try something from the 90s.

Jennifer O'Neill is a top-end jewelry fence in Florida. When a pricey set of hot rocks goes through her hands, insurance investigator Donald Sutherland is on the case. Sparks fly between the two.

The production of this film was clearly inspired by THE THOMAS CROWN AFFAIR. This movie, however, lacks all the heat and style of that earlier movie. There's little chemistry between the two performers, the music is 1970s chick-a-boom, the camerawork by Lucien Ballard is workmanlike but unimaginative, and director Tom Gries largely wastes a good cast that includes Robert Duvall Patrick Magee and Dana Elcar. All the performances are minimalistic, with insurance executives empty suits saying banal lines as if they are of great import. Sutherland has a few flares of humor, Miss O'Neill is exceedingly lovely, but it's an uninspiring movie.

Jennifer O'Neill became a star as the distant object of Gary Grimes' voyeuristic attention in the wonderfully nostalgic Summer of '42. That film showed that she could be captivating when viewed from afar, but her career went off the rails while she was still in her twenties owing to a shortage of technical chops. Simply put, she had the looks of a movie star but not the presence. Here we see Jennifer driving around Miami in a 1970 Maserati Ghibli, taking a late night swim, sunning herself in a bikini, flying off to the Bahamas... Mansions, speedboats, planes and jewels provide the rest of Lady Ice's eye candy. It's all very appealing to look at, but herein lies the problem. The movie is all surface gloss with nothing underneath to drive the wheels. Someone forgot to tell the producers that heist movies are crime thrillers, and crime thrillers are plot driven. They need tight pacing, high stakes, plot twists, none of which appear in this film. The only action is provided by a little routine fast driving. Otherwise, everything meanders along in predictable fashion. Some greedy people are interested in some jewels. No surprises here. The producers could have recut Lady Ice as a four minute music video or an episode of Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous and lost nothing.

Sultry O'Neill fresh from her career defining role in 'Summer of '42' plays the spoiled, enigmatic but emotionally aloof daughter of a wealthy British magnate (Magee, whose character disappears midway through the picture) being covertly pursued by tenacious insurance investigator Sutherland until she eventually succumbs to his easygoing charm.

Attractive cast, an array of classic fast cars (and some spectacular car chases) and location photography (Miami, Nassau) elevates a convoluted plot that requires close attention to follow. Duvall is solid as the special agent reluctantly co-operating with rogue Sutherland (who's only after his 10%), Cypher is O'Neill's overbearing fiancé and co-conspirator, whilst Braeden shows up late in the picture in what turns out to be a minor role as an international jewel launderer (and for what it's worth in what seems like an editing slip, he momentarily appears to look at the camera crew in the scene where he's seen walking away from Sutherland following the pool encounter). Sharp eyes will also spot Dana Elcar in an uncredited appearance as one of Sutherland's employers just before sunset.

Despite likeable performances from the beguiling O'Neill, charismatic Sutherland and a fine score by composer Botkin, director Gries' high concept crime caper doesn't always seem to know its destination nor are the motivations of the characters always clear. O'Neill's character displays a highly uneven temperament which seems to be deliberate, but it does make her behaviour in certain situations difficult to fathom (I'm not sure what was happening in the scuba diving scene for instance). There's a scene in with she explains herself as being 'fragments' of different personalities which is perhaps reaching for some psychological explanation, but it's awfully vague. Anyway, despite being unusually complex to read, she's still a specimen to behold.

Jazzy and energetic, it's got all the elements to be a success, but sadly lacks coherency, and is tonally too erratic to fulfil its significant potential.