L'Enlèvement

Former German soldier Ernst Furben (James Mason) tells Harry Morgan (Telly Savalas) a story about his WWII days. The SS had commandeered his truck to transport gold bars. He recruits Harry to free Nazi prisoner Reinhardt Holtz who had authorized the $6 million gold shipment. Harry brings in his friend Sly Wells (Robert Culp) and others.

Initially, I didn't think the premise makes sense, but in time, I realized that Reinhardt would never give up the goods without some torturing. The movie decides to go the theatrical route. I'll give them that one. It's silly, but it has some fun. The rest of the schemes are all very unlikely. I don't understand why they wouldn't switch Reinhardt back before doing the heist. Again, it's just outrageously unlikely that they do all that in 24 hours especially when they don't have to. By doing it this way, they leave the gold in other people's hands. The sequence of events don't make sense.

A great fast paced action yarn. This film stars Telly Savalas as a man who lives the high life, but soon becomes pressed for cash. He gets word from an ex German soldier, (played by James Mason) about missing gold; lost since the war. Savalas forms a small group of people to hunt for this lost gold. The films age shows when the characters make a dangerous attempt to cross between both areas of Berlin. This film serves as an excellent time capsule film, made during Savalas's Kojak fame.

This has good qualities such as a good cast, very light on the profanity and some nice cinematography....but - and it's a big "but" - the story bogs down after the first 30 minutes and never recovers. It drags on and on for way too long.

It's the story of a group of men who kidnap a former Nazi out of a high-security jail because the man knows where six million dollars in gold is hidden. Then they must all go get it, in East Germany (when Germany was divided).

It sounds interesting and should have been an intense story, but it wasn't. With a cast headlined by Telly Savalas, Robert Culp and James Mason, the fact it didn't grab me is another surprise.

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.

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.