Richard Roundtree (Shaft,
Maniac Cop), as Archie, and Robert Shaw (Jaws,
From Russia With Love), in a dual role as twin brothers Charles
and Earl Hodgson, star as the two leads in this decent crime caper from
the 70s.
Archie and his girlfriend, Sally (played by Barbara Hershey who is sorely
underused in the film), are recruited by Charles Hodgson to swipe $100
million worth of diamonds from an ultra-secure Israeli skyscraper designed
by Charles’ twin brother Earl. The crew flies from London to Tel Aviv and
have the police on their tail seemingly from the moment that they get off
the plane. An interesting game of cat and mouse ensues, with Archie and
Sally taking care of one aspect of the plan and Charles the other, while
both of them attempt to keep the police away with some interesting and
smart distractions.
When Archie and Charles finally get into the building, the investigators
following them find out after being thrown off the trail temporarily, but
will they get to them in time? And if they do what are they going to find?
That’s where the twist ending comes in, which is really what makes the
film stand out a bit over a lot of the typical 70s heist/crime movies.
The highlight of the movie is a fine performance from Roundtree in a less
than typical role where he’s showing a bit more of his ability than he had
previously in the Shaft films. Shaw is, likewise, excellent
in the film, with some great close ups of those facial expressions that he
did so well, and that manic glint in his eye that we saw previously in
Jaws, which makes his character’s ulterior motive in the film
all that more believable. There’s also a cameo appearance from Shelley
Winters in an odd spot of comic relief as an American tourist in Israel
who takes a liking to Charlie.
The cinematography is also excellent in this movie, and it does a lot to
help the movie’s atmosphere by bringing the viewer into the environment,
as the scenery and background characters play a large part in making the
movie work.
Although it has been released in the past as ‘Diamond Shaft’,
likely to cash in on Roundtree’s presence, it isn’t a Blaxploitation film
at all and those looking for Shaft style funk and violence
will likely be disappointed.
Anchor Bay has chosen to release the North American version of the film,
rather than the Israeli version, which is 12 minutes longer. |
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