The Hot Rock (1972)

Dortmunder and his pals plan to steal a huge diamond from a museum. But this turns out to be only the first time they have to steal it...

Director:

Peter Yates

Writers:

Donald E. Westlake (novel), William Goldman (screenplay)

Stars:

Robert Redford, George Segal, Ron Leibman

Nominated for 1 Oscar. Another 1 nomination.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Robert Redford	...	Dortmunder
George Segal	...	Kelp
Ron Leibman	...	Murch
Paul Sand	...	Greenberg
Moses Gunn	...	Dr. Amusa
William Redfield	...	Lt. Hoover
Topo Swope	...	Sis
Charlotte Rae	...	Ma Murch
Graham Jarvis	...	Warden (as Graham P. Jarvis)
Harry Bellaver	...	Rollo the Bartender
Seth Allen	...	Happy Hippie
Robert Levine	...	Cop At Police Station
Lee Wallace	...	Dr. Strauss
Robert Weil	...	Albert
Lynne Gordon	...	Miasmo

Storyline

Dr. Amusa approaches Dortmunder about a valuable gem in a museum that is of great signifigance to his people in Africa, stolen during colonial times. Dortmunder assembles a crack team of cat burglars and hatches an elaborate plan for stealing the gem. Despite their care and experience, circumstances and plain bad luck keep the gem just out of their reach.

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Plot Keywords:

locksmith | heist | safe deposit box key | prison escape | planning | 

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Taglines:

How many times does it take to steal the same diamond?

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Genres:

Action | Comedy | Crime

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Certificate:

PG

Did You Know?

Trivia

Composer Quincy Jones was so impressed by the performance of his musicians for the soundtrack of the film that he asked Twentieth Century-Fox and the producers of the film to give them on-screen credit. The featured performers given credit on screen were (among others): Gerry Mulligan, Grady Tate, Jerome Richardson, Frank Rosolino, Clark Terry and The Don Elliott Voices, who were all popular jazz musicians at the time.

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Goofs

While scouting the police station, Dortmunder is approached by a mugger who takes an interest in his watch with the wide leather wrist band. The mugger is a couple of feet from him. However,when the shot cuts to Dortmunder's view of the street, we clearly see the mugger walking out of a doorway on the far side of the street.

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Quotes

Kelp: You take failure too hard. I don't mind it so much anymore.

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Crazy Credits

The 20th Century Fox logo is erased away via a "snake effect".

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Alternate Versions

The original network television version included two extra scenes. The first one is where the hypnotist, that is hired, explaining to Redford's gang how hypnosis works and how he can hypnotize the bank worker. He tells them the trigger phrase will be "Afghanistan banana stand", which Redford later says to the bank worker to obey his commands. The second one occurs at the end of the movie where Abe Greenberg and Dr. Amusa go to the bank to retrieve the diamond, but are disappointed to discover Dortmunder already took it from the safe deposit box.

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Connections

Referenced in Sneakers (1992)

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Soundtracks

Listen To The Melody
Music and arrangement: Quincy Jones
Performed by: Tata with The Ian Smith Singers

User Reviews

Another Great Movie Missing from the Video Shelves

This film is taken from one of a series of books by Donald E. Westlake about John Dortmunder & his various cronies who try to pull off big capers but never quite succeed. Anyone who likes this movie should try picking up the novel it's based on.

If, as other posters have written, Robert Redford has prevented release of this movie on video then that's a shame since this is a very funny & enjoyable crime caper film with some good actors & good New York City locations. Recently, it has been on Cinemax (which I don't have) a couple times so maybe that is a prelude to a future video re-release.

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

26 January 1972 (USA)

Also Known As:

The Hot Rock

Filming Locations:

Brooklyn Museum - 200 Eastern Parkway, Brooklyn, New York City, New York, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$4,895,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Landers-Roberts Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

101 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Westrex Recording System)

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.39 : 1