Ruba al prossimo tuo (1969)

User Rating:

4.5/10   

Director:

Francesco Maselli

Writers:

Virgil C. Leone (writer)
Francesco Maselli (writer)

Release Date:

10 May 1969 (USA)

Genre:

Adventure | Comedy | Romance

Tagline:

He was a good, law-abiding citizen, but she didn't hold that against him.

Plot:

A detective gets involved with the beautiful daughter of an old friend. The daughter turns out to be a jewel thief, who in turn gets the detective involved in a caper in Austria. |

Plot Keywords:

Daughter | Detective | Austria | Jewel Thief | Beautiful Woman

Cast

Rock Hudson	...	Capt. Mike Harmon
Claudia Cardinale	...	Esmeralda Marini
Leon Askin	...	Chief Wellman
Walter Giller	...	Franz
Ellen Corby	...	Mrs. Walker
Guido Alberti	...	Uncle Camillo
Peter Dane	...	Albert Kinsky
Vittorio Campanella
Tomas Milian	...	Roger
Gianni Carnago
Raniero Dorascenzi
Andrea Esterhazy
Frank Leslie
Gianni Minghini
Barbara Pignaton

Also Known As:

A Fine Pair (USA)

Runtime:

Italy:113 min | West Germany:96 min | Argentina:110 min

Country:

Italy

Language:

Italian | English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Finland:S | USA:M (original rating) | USA:PG | Argentina:Atp

Filming Locations:

New York, USA

Company:

Cinema Center Films

Camp with unintentional humor

"Ruba al prossimo tuo" or "A Fine Pair", is a pretty standard film, straight from the late 1960's. Funky music, "hippies" (or those attempting to be),"squares" (or those attempting to not be), etc. Unfortunately, "A fine pair" (more precisely, its script) thinks that with these elements, and a big Hollywood star like Rock Hudson, is enough to make a film.

"A fine pair" is entertaining, but not in the way its makers intended. Rock is a NYC Police Detective (complete with horn-rimmed glasses and trenchcoat), who becomes involved with the daughter of an old friend. The daughter is a jewel thief, who gets Rock caught up in a caper to replace the jewels back in some ritzy Austrian manor. This, just so Rock doesn't have to arrest her.(!) The plot gets sillier from there, and before you know it, we're brought along on a travelogue of the Austrian Alps. Then, we trek on to Italy, with Rock & CO. As the camp becomes hilariously evident, i.e. conservative, "Cop" Rock gets offered a joint in a hopelessly hip disco, the Austrian Police are portrayed as absolute twits, ("Oh, ja woll, since you want break in, here's a way to defeat the alarm system, ja!"). The caper itself, is so absurd, it will raise the hilarity level past the Fahrenheit level.

There's numerous scenes, liberally sprinkled with "stock footage." One in particular, features His Holiness, the late Paul the Sixth. The scene goes on for so long, the Pope should have been given credit for a supporting role in the movie. "A fine pair" is campy, unintentionally funny in many spots. The leads have absolutely no chemistry whatsoever. The saving grace is that the stars, the director or anyone else involved, didn't take the project too seriously. Therefore, in a strange pursuit of cult filmdom, "A Fine Pair" succeeds magnificently.