heist film
The heist film or caper film is a subgenre of crime film focused on the planning, execution, and aftermath of a significant robbery.
One of the early defining heist films was '' The Asphalt Jungle'' (1950), which ''Film Genre 2000'' wrote "alm ...
. Robert Shaw stars in a dual role as twin brothers.
Richard Roundtree
Richard Roundtree (born July 9, 1942) is an American actor. Roundtree is noted as being "the first black action hero" for his portrayal of private detective John Shaft in the 1971 film ''Shaft'', and its four sequels, released between 1972 and 2 ...
,
Barbara Hershey
Barbara Lynn Herzstein, better known as Barbara Hershey (born February 5, 1948), is an American actress. In a career spanning more than 50 years, she has played a variety of roles on television and in cinema in several genres, including weste ...
and
Shelley Winters
Shelley Winters (born Shirley Schrift; August 18, 1920 – January 14, 2006) was an American actress whose career spanned seven decades. She appeared in numerous films. She won Academy Awards for ''The Diary of Anne Frank'' (1959) and ''A Patch o ...
are co-stars. The film was also released as ''Diamond Shaft'', although it has no relation to the '' Shaft'' films other than having Roundtree in the cast.
Plot
Charles Hodgson is a British aristocrat who decides to become a thief as a way of getting at his twin brother, Earl, a security expert who has built a supposedly impregnable vault in
Tel Aviv
Tel Aviv-Yafo ( he, תֵּל־אָבִיב-יָפוֹ, translit=Tēl-ʾĀvīv-Yāfō ; ar, تَلّ أَبِيب – يَافَا, translit=Tall ʾAbīb-Yāfā, links=no), often referred to as just Tel Aviv, is the most populous city in the ...
, which holds a cache of
diamond
Diamond is a solid form of the element carbon with its atoms arranged in a crystal structure called diamond cubic. Another solid form of carbon known as graphite is the chemically stable form of carbon at room temperature and pressure, ...
s. For the caper, Charles enlists Archie, a heist expert, and Sally. He also becomes acquainted with an American woman, Zelda Shapiro, who is in Israel looking for a new husband.
Richard Roundtree
Richard Roundtree (born July 9, 1942) is an American actor. Roundtree is noted as being "the first black action hero" for his portrayal of private detective John Shaft in the 1971 film ''Shaft'', and its four sequels, released between 1972 and 2 ...
as Archie
*
Barbara Hershey
Barbara Lynn Herzstein, better known as Barbara Hershey (born February 5, 1948), is an American actress. In a career spanning more than 50 years, she has played a variety of roles on television and in cinema in several genres, including weste ...
as Sally (credited as Barbara Seagull)
*
Shelley Winters
Shelley Winters (born Shirley Schrift; August 18, 1920 – January 14, 2006) was an American actress whose career spanned seven decades. She appeared in numerous films. She won Academy Awards for ''The Diary of Anne Frank'' (1959) and ''A Patch o ...
as Zelda Shapiro
*
Shaike Ophir
Shaike Ophir ( he, שייקה אופיר; November 4, 1928 – August 17, 1987) was an Israeli film and theater actor, comedian, playwright, screenwriter, director, and the country's first mime.
Early life
Yeshayahu (Shaike) Goldstein-Ophir was ...
as Moshe
*
Yosef Shiloach
Yosef Shiloach ( he, יוסף שילוח; July 9, 1941 – January 3, 2011) was an Israeli actor.
Biography
Yosef Shiloach was born in Kurdistan. He immigrated to Israel at the age of nine.List of American films of 1975