''Crime and Passion'', also known as ''Ace Up My Sleeve'', is a 1975 comedy drama film.Ebert, Roger (May 4, 1976)
''Crime and Passion''.
RogerEbert.com.

Plot

André Ferren learns from his girlfriend and co-worker Susan Winters that the biggest client of his

brokerage firm A broker is a person or firm who arranges transactions between a buyer and a seller for a commission when the deal is executed. A broker who also acts as a seller or as a buyer becomes a principal party to the deal. Neither role should be confu ...

, Hermann Rolf, not only wants to replace André with Susan, but asked Susan on a date. André orders Susan to go on the date and Rolf asks Susan to marry him. Susan agrees on the condition that Rolf entrust his fortune to André as a gift. Weeks later, Rolf and Susan are married at Rolf's castle in the Swiss Alps. André assures Susan that he will create a financial scandal that will ruin Rolf and she can divorce him. André is then accused by the top executives at the brokerage firm of stealing $2.5 million from Rolf's account. He is given ten days to return the money or go to prison. André drives to a ski resort where Susan is having an affair with Larry, a ski instructor. André explains to Susan that he is being framed. A skier attempts to murder André with a ski pole, but André falls and the other skier dies instead. That night, Susan informs André that they cannot be seen together or Rolf will divorce her, and explains that Rolf murdered all his ex-wives. André survives several more attempts on his life as he follows Susan and Larry to Rolf's castle, including an episode at a village inn where a woman attempts to strangle him. Eventually André sneaks into the castle, where he is imprisoned by a sword-wielding Larry. Susan asks Larry to drive her Maserati Indy to Switzerland and deliver a letter to a banker. In the process of doing so, he passes Rolf's

Rolls-Royce Silver Cloud The Rolls-Royce Silver Cloud is a luxury automobile produced by Rolls-Royce Limited from April 1955 to March 1966. It was the core model of the Rolls-Royce range during that period. The Silver Cloud replaced the Silver Dawn and was, in turn, r ...

, and Rolf's manservant Henkel shoots, causing the Maserati to explode. Susan shoots a man in a suit of armor attempting to stab André through the cell bars; lifting the visor reveals the face of the innkeeper. Susan then begins noticing hidden surveillance cameras throughout the castle as Rolf sends Henkel on foot to kill André. Susan tells Rolf through one of the cameras that her feelings have changed. She then tells André to make love to her and smashes the camera, bringing a tear to Rolf's eye as he watches surveillance footage from inside the Rolls-Royce. Henkel locks the castle gates and hides in a mortar, but is shot out of it when Susan pulls the lanyard. Rolf gets drunk, falls down a ravine and walks through the snow. The next morning, Susan and André lie in bed and realize that Rolf had set them both up in a scheme to murder them. Meanwhile, Rolf has frozen to death standing up.

Cast

* Omar Sharif as André Ferren *

Karen Black Karen Blanche Black (née Ziegler; July 1, 1939 – August 8, 2013) was an American actress, screenwriter, singer, and songwriter. She rose to prominence for her work in various studio and independent films in the 1970s, frequently portrayi ...

as Susan Winters *

Joseph Bottoms Joseph Bottoms is an American actor who won the 1975 Golden Globe Award for New Star of the Year for his role in '' The Dove''. He is also well known for his roles in the television mini-series ''Holocaust'' and Disney's '' The Black Hole''. Ca ...

as Larry *

Bernhard Wicki Bernhard Wicki (28 October 1919 – 5 January 2000) was an Austrian actor and film director. Life and career Wicki studied in the city of Breslau such topics as art history, history and German literature. In 1938, he transferred to the d ...

as Hermann Rolf * Heinz Ehrenfreund as Henkel *

Elma Karlowa Elma Karlowa (March 12, 1932 – December 31, 1994) was a Yugoslav film and television actress.Fritsche p.255 Selected filmography * '' Once I Will Return'' (1953) * '' A Child of the Community'' (1953) * '' Guitars of Love'' (1954) * ''Cabaret ...

as Masseuse *

Volker Prechtel Volker Prechtel (9 August 1941 – 7 August 1997) was a German actor. He appeared in more than 50 films and television shows between 1974 and 1997. Filmography References External links * 1941 births 1997 deaths People from Füss ...

as Gastwirt *

Erich Padalewski Erich Padalewski (1930–2018) was an Austrian stage, film and television actor.Schliesser & Moser p.83 Selected filmography * '' Dance with Me Into the Morning'' (1962) * ''Our Crazy Nieces'' (1963) * ''Don't Fool with Me'' (1963) * '' Call of ...

as Autoverkäufer * Robert L. Abrams as Mr. Blatt *

Franz Muxeneder Franz Muxeneder (19 October 1920 - 3 January 1988) was an Austrian actor. He appeared in more than one hundred films from 1948 to 1987. Muxeneder is best known in Great Britain for his part in the Yugoslav-German television series ''The White Hor ...

as Priester * Margarete Soper as Sylvia

Reception

Roger Ebert of the ''

Chicago Sun-Times The ''Chicago Sun-Times'' is a daily newspaper published in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Since 2022, it is the flagship paper of Chicago Public Media, and has the second largest circulation among Chicago newspapers, after the ''Chicago ...

'' gave the film two stars out of four and called it "not only one of the silliest films ever made but one of the most inexplicable."

Vincent Canby Vincent Canby (July 27, 1924 – October 15, 2000) was an American film and theatre critic who served as the chief film critic for ''The New York Times'' from 1969 until the early 1990s, then its chief theatre critic from 1994 until his death in ...

of ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

'' called it "a grossly disoriented and disorienting shaggy-dog of a movie that seems to have no point, and no point of view, whatever ... What it's meant to be, I cannot tell. A comedy, melodrama, spoof?" Gene Siskel of the ''

Chicago Tribune The ''Chicago Tribune'' is a daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, United States, owned by Tribune Publishing. Founded in 1847, and formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper" (a slogan for which WGN radio and television a ...

'' gave the film 1.5 stars out of 4 and called it a "European quickie production" with "an absurd script." Arthur D. Murphy of ''

Variety Variety may refer to: Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats * Variety (radio) * Variety show, in theater and television Films * ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont * ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...

'' called it "a vulgar little embarrassment" made up of "the untidy combination of self-conscious comedy relief, serious melodrama and indecisive planning that used to be called 'camp' a few years ago ... intercut with sequences of embarrassing non-eroticism made even worse by sophomoric treatment."Murphy, Arthur D. (February 25, 1976). "Crime And Passion". ''

''. 22.

References

External links

* {{IMDb title, 0072600 1975 films 1970s crime comedy-drama films West German films German black comedy films English-language German films Films set in Austria Films set in the Alps Films set in Switzerland Films based on British novels Films based on works by James Hadley Chase 1970s black comedy films Films scored by Vangelis Films directed by Ivan Passer Films with screenplays by Ivan Passer German crime comedy-drama films 1970s English-language films 1970s German films