''Lady Ice'' is a 1973 American crime film directed by

Tom Gries Tom Gries (December 20, 1922 – January 3, 1977) was an American TV and film director, writer, and film producer. Life and career Gries was born in Chicago, Illinois. His mother, Ruth, later remarried to jazz musician Muggsy Spanier, who ...

, and stars

Donald Sutherland Donald McNichol Sutherland (born 17 July 1935) is a Canadian actor whose film career spans over six decades. He has been nominated for nine Golden Globe Awards, winning two for his performances in the television films '' Citizen X'' (1995) a ...

Jennifer O'Neill Jennifer O'Neill (born February 20, 1948) is a Brazilian-born American actress, model, author, and activist. She is known for her modeling and spokesperson work for CoverGirl cosmetics starting in 1963, and her starring role in the Oscar-winn ...

, and

Robert Duvall Robert Selden Duvall (; born January 5, 1931) is an American actor and filmmaker. His career spans more than seven decades and he is considered one of the greatest American actors of all time. He is the recipient of an Academy Award, four Gold ...

. The story concerns an insurance investigator who becomes involved with a wealthy young woman he suspects of

fencing Fencing is a group of three related combat sports. The three disciplines in modern fencing are the foil, the épée, and the sabre (also ''saber''); winning points are made through the weapon's contact with an opponent. A fourth discipline, ...

stolen jewelry.

Plot

In a

Miami Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a coastal metropolis and the county seat of Miami-Dade County in South Florida, United States. With a population of 442,241 at ...

hotel room, insurance agent Andy Hammon ( Sutherland) surprises Tony Lacava, a jewelry fence, at gunpoint and retrieves a

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, ...

necklace that Lacava had concealed under his clothes. While working at a garage Hammon encounters Paula Booth (

O'Neill The O'Neill dynasty (Irish: ''Ó Néill'') are a lineage of Irish Gaelic origin, that held prominent positions and titles in Ireland and elsewhere. As kings of Cenél nEógain, they were historically the most prominent family of the Northern ...

), a wealthy young woman who leaves her car to be repaired. He makes a lewd comment toward Paula and is summoned to see the garage owner, Booth's father, who fires him. Hammon steals Paula's car and she pursues him until she loses him at a draw bridge. Later, at her home, Paula encounters Hammon again, who presents himself as criminal and proposes a partnership. Hammon later shows her the necklace that he took from Lacava. Paula reports the encounter to her father.

Department of Justice A justice ministry, ministry of justice, or department of justice is a ministry or other government agency in charge of the administration of justice. The ministry or department is often headed by a minister of justice (minister for justice in a ...

official Ford Pierce ( Duvall) shows Hammon the body of Lacava, who has been killed, and reveals that Paula, her father Paul and their partner Eddie are all under investigation as Booth senior has a large amount of unexplained wealth. Eddie tells Paula he thinks Hammon is a threat to a future deal worth $3 million and suggests killing him, but Paula protests. Hammon is attacked in his home by the thugs who killed Lacava, but they leave when Paula arrives. Hammon reveals to Paula that he is an insurance investigator from

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

and he knows that a further shipment of jewelry is arriving soon. In Chicago, a jewelry store is robbed. Pierce and his agents separately follow Eddie and Paula but lose both of them. Hammon, however, successfully follows Paula to a meeting with Eddie and the Chicago robbers, where they buy the stolen jewelry, and eventually to

Nassau Nassau may refer to: Places Bahamas *Nassau, Bahamas, capital city of the Bahamas, on the island of New Providence Canada *Nassau District, renamed Home District, regional division in Upper Canada from 1788 to 1792 *Nassau Street (Winnipeg), ...

. Hammon meets with Paula and her contact, Brinker, and offers them $500,000 for the jewels. Hammon deduces that the stolen gems are being recut and sold as new jewelry items. Brinker collects the jewelry, but he is robbed by a gang hired by Hammon and claims the insurance money for the jewels. Hammon's employers meet him in the Bahamas and tell him to obtain a signed statement from Paula, stating that the recut jewels are the same as the stolen ones. Hammon meets Paula to negotiate the deal and offers her $600,000 and immunity from prosecution. Paula accepts, and they depart to retrieve the jewels but Eddie arrives and takes them for himself. The police pursue Eddie as Hammon and Paula look on.

Cast

as Andy Hammon *

as Paula Booth *

as Ford Pierce * Patrick Magee as Paul Booth *

Jon Cypher Jon Cypher (born January 13, 1932) is an American actor and singer. He is best known as playing Chief of Police Fletcher Daniels in ''Hill Street Blues'' throughout the series' run. He is also known for his work in ''Cinderella'', ''As the World Tu ...

as Eddie Stell *

Eric Braeden Eric Braeden (born Hans-Jörg Gudegast; April 3, 1941) is a German-born film and television actor, known for his roles as Victor Newman on the CBS soap opera ''The Young and the Restless'', as Hans Dietrich in the 1960s TV series '' The Rat Patr ...

as Peter Brinker * Perry Lopez as Carlos

Production

George Lucas was offered the chance to direct, but he turned it down in favor of focusing on finding a studio for

American Graffiti ''American Graffiti'' is a 1973 American coming-of-age comedy-drama film directed by George Lucas, produced by Francis Ford Coppola, written by Willard Huyck, Gloria Katz and Lucas, and starring Richard Dreyfuss, Ron Howard (billed as Ronny ...

Reception

Leonard Maltin Leonard Michael Maltin (born December 18, 1950) is an American film critic and film historian, as well as an author of several mainstream books on cinema, focusing on nostalgic, celebratory narratives. He is perhaps best known for his book of fi ...

awarded the film two stars.page 761

References

External links