IMDb RATING
6.4/10
7.5K
YOUR RATING
A secret extramarital fling between successful Los Angeles construction magnate Harry Mitchell and his stripper mistress Cini leads to three strangers blackmailing him for a six-figure sum, ... Read allA secret extramarital fling between successful Los Angeles construction magnate Harry Mitchell and his stripper mistress Cini leads to three strangers blackmailing him for a six-figure sum, followed by burglary, theft, and Cini's murder.A secret extramarital fling between successful Los Angeles construction magnate Harry Mitchell and his stripper mistress Cini leads to three strangers blackmailing him for a six-figure sum, followed by burglary, theft, and Cini's murder.
- Awards
- 1 nomination total
Herschel Savage
- Party Goer
- (as Harvey Cowen)
Ron Jeremy
- Party Goer
- (as Ron Jeremy Hyatt)
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaAdult film stars Randy West, Tom Byron, Amber Lynn, Sharon Mitchell, Ron Jeremy, Herschel Savage, Erica Boyer, Barbara Dare, Cara Lott and Jamie Gillis appear in the film during the party sequence.
- GoofsThe "exploding" Jaguar is slightly different than the one used throughout the film. It has a dent between the door and bonnet, lacks the passenger-side rear-view mirror, and the hard top is missing the glass rear window. Given the value of the car it is forgivable that the "real" one was not blown up.
- Alternate versionsUK cinema and video versions were cut by 1 min 36 secs and heavily edit a scene where Harry watches a video showing a topless woman being tied to a chair and shot to death. The cuts were waived for the 2004 MGM DVD.
- ConnectionsFeatured in Siskel & Ebert: 52 Pick-Up/Nobody's Fool/Tai Pan/The Sacrifice (1986)
- SoundtracksStratusphunk
Written by George Russell
Published by Russ-Hix Music (BMI)
Courtesy of Soul Note Records
Featured review
I've only read one of Leonard's crime novels and it didn't impress me much with its style. The guy writes as if he's producing a technical manual with people instead of parts. But the plot was interesting and dense, as it is in this movie.
Roy Scheider never turns in a bad performance, and here his face is beginning to look comely and battered with time. He's also from Orange, New Jersey, which is a good place to start from. Scheider is Harry, a morally flawed businessman with a mechanical bent. Ann-Margaret is breathtakingly good looking, and her performance is exceptional. The same could be said of Vanity, but her part is rather small. The villains are all superb. John Glover is a delight to watch on screen -- and to listen to -- with that slimy smile and midlands Maryland accent that descends into working-class vulgar when the situation calls for it. He's the kind of villain who would enjoy pulling hooks out of fish. He and Scheider played well off one another in "The Last Embrace." Clarence Williams is a sort of doggedly cunning and brutal muscleman, done quietly but effectively.
There's something oddly amusing about Williams' villainy. After Scheider and Ann-Margaret have clobbered him following a botched murder attempt (a little hard to believe), he sits in a chair having his picture taken while Scheider implants in his mind a few seeds of doubt about the probity of his partners in crime. An expression of dumb comprehension creeps slowly over his face and his eyes squint over his bleeding nose.
Robert Trebor (terrific name, by the way, a palindrome) gives a nearly perfect imitation of a guy who is a sweating, shaking, desperately twitching nervous wreck, but still with his eye pinned on profit and, mostly, survival. What a trio of villains.
The plot is, as I say, dense, but not difficult to follow. The story is in a style that Northrop Frye called low mimetic: Scheider is no hero, and in fact no better than the rest of us. That's what makes his outwitting of the trio so interesting. Frankenheimer's direction is fine, no flashy shots or dazzling fireworks. The story pulls a viewer along on its own terms. Not a masterpiece, but a cleverly done genre piece, it's worth seeing. Can't imagine why people flock to schlock while a movie like this goes by mostly unnoticed.
Roy Scheider never turns in a bad performance, and here his face is beginning to look comely and battered with time. He's also from Orange, New Jersey, which is a good place to start from. Scheider is Harry, a morally flawed businessman with a mechanical bent. Ann-Margaret is breathtakingly good looking, and her performance is exceptional. The same could be said of Vanity, but her part is rather small. The villains are all superb. John Glover is a delight to watch on screen -- and to listen to -- with that slimy smile and midlands Maryland accent that descends into working-class vulgar when the situation calls for it. He's the kind of villain who would enjoy pulling hooks out of fish. He and Scheider played well off one another in "The Last Embrace." Clarence Williams is a sort of doggedly cunning and brutal muscleman, done quietly but effectively.
There's something oddly amusing about Williams' villainy. After Scheider and Ann-Margaret have clobbered him following a botched murder attempt (a little hard to believe), he sits in a chair having his picture taken while Scheider implants in his mind a few seeds of doubt about the probity of his partners in crime. An expression of dumb comprehension creeps slowly over his face and his eyes squint over his bleeding nose.
Robert Trebor (terrific name, by the way, a palindrome) gives a nearly perfect imitation of a guy who is a sweating, shaking, desperately twitching nervous wreck, but still with his eye pinned on profit and, mostly, survival. What a trio of villains.
The plot is, as I say, dense, but not difficult to follow. The story is in a style that Northrop Frye called low mimetic: Scheider is no hero, and in fact no better than the rest of us. That's what makes his outwitting of the trio so interesting. Frankenheimer's direction is fine, no flashy shots or dazzling fireworks. The story pulls a viewer along on its own terms. Not a masterpiece, but a cleverly done genre piece, it's worth seeing. Can't imagine why people flock to schlock while a movie like this goes by mostly unnoticed.
- rmax304823
- Nov 19, 2002
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Details
- Release date
- Country of origin
- Language
- Also known as
- Igraj ili umri
- Filming locations
- Dodger Stadium - 1000 Vin Scully Avenue, Chavez Ravine, Elysian Park, Los Angeles, California, USA(Baseball stadium scene.)
- Production companies
- See more company credits at IMDbPro
Box office
- Gross US & Canada
- $5,186,646
- Opening weekend US & Canada
- $1,654,835
- Nov 9, 1986
- Gross worldwide
- $5,186,646
- Runtime1 hour 50 minutes
- Color
- Sound mix
- Aspect ratio
- 1.85 : 1
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