The diamond prince
| Movie | |
|---|---|
| German title | The diamond prince |
| Original title | The Diamond Prince / Jack of Diamonds |
| Country of production |
United States Germany |
| original language | English |
| Publishing year | 1967 |
| length | 108 (USA), 105 (Germany) minutes |
| Rod | |
| Director | Don Taylor |
| script |
Jack de Witt Sandy Howard Robert L. Joseph Howard Joseph |
| production | Sandy Howard for Sandy Howard Productions and Harris Associates (USA) Helmut Jedele for Bavaria (Munich) |
| music |
Peter Thomas Bob Harris |
| camera | Ernst Wild |
| cut | Hannes Nikel |
| occupation | |
and as guests playing themselves: | |
The Diamond Prince is a German-American crook and burglar comedy from 1967 by Don Taylor with George Hamilton in the lead role of a smart diamond thief and womanizer.
action
New York - Munich - Paris: no security lock is safe from him, no luxury apartment window is too high and no safe remains unopened. Jeff Hill, a smart, flexible and well-trained young man, is a gifted facade climber and is all too convinced of the top class jewel thief. Even prominent women from the glamor and film world such as Zsa Zsa Gabor, Lilli Palmer and Carrol Baker have to give up their precious objects to the alert thief (most involuntarily). He keeps himself fit with exercises on the trapeze or skiing through the powder snow. In an aging former master thief, known as “the ace” or “Ace of Diamonds”, he has found his experienced mentor, who wants to give the diamond prince “Jack of Diamonds” the finishing touch and reveal all his tricks to him.
Jack of Diamonds is planning his next foray on a luxury passenger steamer. But contrary to expectations, the diamond prince has to find out that he has had tough competition for the jewelery of the wealthy widows and millionaire wives in the form of the equally pretty and talented Olga. When he arrived in Munich, he hit the ace again. He advises him to get out of the "job" while he still has the opportunity. Only now does Jeff meet Olga, who in turn introduces him to Nikolai. The old Brit suggests that he risk the really big coup. It revolves around a bank vault, which is particularly worth robbing due to a considerable number of diamonds and a wonderful necklace. With a precise drawing of the locations on the floor of Jeff's trapezoidal hall, the crook quartet prepares itself meticulously. Jeff and Olga climb into the building in a burglar costume based on “the cat” in Hitchcock's Above the Roofs of Nice - scurrying over roofs, hanging on gutters, hanging along house walls and crawling through skylights and ventilation shafts. It was only when a security guard made his tour and an alarm device switched on that a siren began to make a hell of a noise.
The burglar couple is caught. But then suddenly the ace appears. He turns himself in to the police and claims that he seduced the two young people into this rupture. The stolen jewels will be returned, and all in all the break of the master will be pretty light for those involved. When Jeff and Olga, who have come to appreciate themselves not only as burglar experts, but also to love themselves, announce that they want to get married soon, the clever old fox Nikolai has another surprise ready: He pulls out a precious gem, which he withheld when returning the jewels to the police, and presented it to Olga and Jeff as his wedding present.
production
The Diamond Prince was a German-American film and television coproduction and was shot in the autumn of 1966 (studio recordings) in the Bavaria studios in Munich-Geiselgasteig. The external shoots took place in Munich, the Bavarian Alps, Nice, New York and Genoa. While the US-American side provided the cinema portion, the television portion (commissioned production of Südfunk Stuttgart ) came from the German side.
The world premiere took place on November 10, 1967 in the USA. Since the rogue comedy was treated as a television production in Germany, The Diamond Prince was not shown in German cinemas, but was first broadcast on Saturday, March 2nd, 1968 on ARD at 8:15 p.m. (until 10 p.m.).
The cost of production was $ 1.3 million.
Rolf Zehetbauer designed the film structures, Nikola Hoeltz the costumes. Klaus von Rautenfeld was in charge of camera work for the second team (second unit). This was the last film for the sound engineer Walter Rühland , who has been active since the beginning of the sound film age. He died a little later at the beginning of 1967.
useful information
The film swam in the wave of popular burglary and theft of the century films that were in vogue in the mid-1960s. This detective film subgenre was triggered by the rogue comedies Topkapi by Jules Dassin and How do you steal a million? by William Wyler . With Die Bankräuberbande ( The Caper of the Golden Bulls ) and Charlie dusting off millions, other films of this kind followed in the same decade.
Reviews
"Jack of Diamonds" is a harmless finger exercise in how not to do an adventure thriller. I can't think of any reason to go in the movie unless you're a fan of George Hamilton. It's nice, I suppose, but he's as credible as a diamond thief as J. Edgar Hoover is as Murph the Surf. "
“Unless you have an urgent need to watch George Hamilton show off a dazzling assortment of the most elegant men's clothing… you should get yourself Jack of Diamonds for safety's sake… The film is clearly a“ Topkapi ”for poor people, spiced up in high-carat high-style . "
“Despite an elaborate staging, director Don Taylor (“ Escape from the Planet of the Apes ”) fails to breathe life into his comedy. Conclusion Not a jewel among the master thief comedies. "
"Entertaining crook comedy in an elaborate production."
"Forget the whole thing and wait until it is shown above the roofs of Nice ."
"Repetitive and bleak comedy drama that only perks up occasionally."
Review overview
- Content and short review on cinema.de
- Film review by Roger Ebert
- The Diamond Prince in Turner Classic Movies
- Film review in the New York Times
Individual evidence
Web links
- The diamonds Prince in the Internet Movie Database (English)
- The diamond prince at filmportal.de