A just released from prison professional thief decides to do one last high-risk heist, which could settle him for life or land him behind bars again.
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Title: The Master Touch (1972)
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Cast
| Credited cast: | |||
| Kirk Douglas | ... | Steve Wallace | |
| Giuliano Gemma | ... | Marco | |
| Florinda Bolkan | ... | Anna | |
| Wolfgang Preiss | ... | Miller | |
| Reinhard Kolldehoff | ... | Detective Hoffman (as Rene Kolldehoff) | |
| Romano Puppo | ... | Miller's Lieutenant | |
| Bruno Corazzari | ... | Eric | |
 |
John Bartha | ... | Murdered Security Guard |
|
|
Allen Stanley | ||
|
|
Vittorio Fanfoni | ||
|
|
Luigi Antonio Guerra | ||
| Rest of cast listed alphabetically: | |||
| Herbert A.E. Böhme | ... | Captain Hansmunsen | |
| Peter Kuiper | ... | Gustav | |
| Paul Muller | ... | (scenes deleted) | |
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Plot Summary
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Storyline
In Hamburg, Germany, convicted burglar and safe cracker Steve Wallace is released from prison.He served two years for a burglary that went wrong.Police inspector Hoffman drives Wallace home and tels him to stay out of trouble. During his heydays Wallace lived in style because the takes were good and he never got caught.This was back when he worked alone, for himself.Since he started working for local crime boss Miller things went wrong.Hence, the two year prison term he just finished.Wallace's girlfriend, Anna, welcomes him home but home nowadays is a modest rented house on the outskirts of the city. Anna wants Steve Wallace to keep his nose clean from now on but Steve hates their modest living conditions.He asks Anna for permission to pull one more job and retire.She doesn't agree but Steve will do it anyway.The ideal opportunity arises when crime boss Miller asks Steve to break into a high security high tech corporate building and steal one million dollars from the safe of an ... Written by nufs68
Plot Keywords:
poliziottesco | german poliziottesco | heist | hamburg germany | f rated |Taglines:
To split a car in half... seduce a safe with music... send a city wild !Parents Guide:
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See full technical specs »
Details
Language:
EnglishRelease Date:
May 1974 (USA) See more »Also Known As:
A Man to Respect See more »Company Credits
Show more on
IMDbPro »
Technical Specs
Runtime:
| (DVD)Sound Mix:
MonoColor:
Color (Eastmancolor)Aspect Ratio:
2.35 : 1
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Did You Know?
Goofs
During the chase, one of the cars keep changing back and forth from a 1958 Plymouth two door to a 1960 Dodge four door with slightly modified tail fins. See more »Alternate Versions
Region 1 DVD is full frame and 95 minutes long Original version is wide-screen and 112 minutes See more »Frequently Asked Questions
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I didn't think this one sounded all that great, what with it being a Euro-crime film with a PG rating, but I was wrong. The Master Touch might not be as deliriously violent as, well, Violent Naples or Contraband, but it's got a certain charm to it thanks to the actors involved. Florinda Balken! Guilliano Gemma! Romano Puppo! And some unknown called Kirk Douglas, who manages to acquit himself nicely amongst those greats.
Kirk is indeed a master safe breaker, just out of the jail after a three year stretch, and immediately offered another job by a mobster called Miller. Kirk's a bit torn about it (for about ten seconds) as his wife, Florinda, doesn't really want to be waiting for him to get out of jail a second time. Kirk starts preparing for a new heist in a seemingly impenetrable vault while giving Florinda the old 'I'm not up to nothing' whilst bringing under his wing trapeze artist (!) Guilliano Gemma. Gemma's got his own problems, having had a run in and a fairly mental punch up with one of Miller's goons, the late Romano Puppo, who chases Gemma all around Hamburg, out for a rematch.
Kirk teaches Guillano the ropes while Florinda flounces around in a huff, and before they're all ready to go the film takes a left turn into one of the loopiest car chases I've ever witnessed. It's simply over the top Italian goodness, and starts off with yet another fairly violent punch up between Gemma and Puppo. I won't spoil it for you here, and all I'm going to say is that I watched it twice in a row.
The heist is fairly tense and detailed too. Throw in a couple of twists and double crosses, and you've got yet another fine Italian crime movie, a genre they seemed to excel at.