Casse au Vatican

Saw this one on television 30 years ago, so my memories of it are a bit hazy. As I recall, Walter Pigeon plays a blind academic who has spent decades studding the Vatican's art treasures - don't ask me how a blind man does this - and decides to reward himself with a retirement in the sun paid for by ripping off some of said treasures. He enlists Kinsky and Von Furstenburg to do the heavy lifting and there follows the usual split-second timing, hair-breadth escapes and double-crosses. I like this sort of picture, but I recall being oddly unengaged by this one. Nice Roman location shooting, but not enough for me to really recommend the film. A rainy afternoon time waster.

Guess I was more fascinated with how a blind man led a group of thieves to scheme the Vatican out of valuable jewelry. The ending was definitely a surprise for me. At the time, I was a teenager with limited English skill and my understanding of the movie's conversation was rather limited. Absolutely would like to watch it again to fully grasp all the details. And I, too, saw this film for the first time in 1975, with a couple repeats, the last of which probably around the late 70s. Would love to find a copy to rent, but the local library did not carry this title, nor did any of the local video stores. Netflix did not help either. However, it's not worth the asking price on amazon or ebay.

It is not fair to compare this movie to much later or modern action movies. The Italian touch makes for a plot that is far from superficial. I enjoyed this movie from the late sixties. It is interesting to see how an European approach differs from the way Hollywood would have done it. There are details of plot and acting that could never have appeared in an American film from this time. There is a certain sophistication in the directors' approach. The roles are never overplayed, but underplaying adds to the undercurrent of excitement and realism. The setting in Rome does much to enhance the air and atmosphere of the 60's. The music scores are very good and in harmony with the whole plot. There is an element here of genuine artistry not often found in mainstream movies of our day.