The Biggest Bundle of Them All (1968)
105-106 mins | Comedy | 17 January 1968
Director:
Ken AnnakinWriters:
Sy Salkowitz, Josef Shaftel, Riccardo AragnoProducer:
Josef ShaftelCinematographer:
Piero PortalupiEditor:
Ralph SheldonProduction Designer:
Arrigo EquiniProduction Company:
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, Inc.In a 4 Nov 1964 Var news item, The Biggest Bundle of Them All was listed as one of several upcoming projects for Berkshire Productions, recently set up by filmmaker Josef Shaftel following his departure from Don Fedderson Productions.
Warren Beatty was cast, according to a 17 Mar 1966 DV brief, but he did not remain with the project. Cliff Robertson was also offered a role, as noted in the 23 Mar 1966 DV.
Principal photography took place in Italy and France. A production chart in the 29 Apr 1966 DV stated that shooting had commenced 26 Apr 1966, but a later item in the 3 May 1966 DV reported that filming had begun the previous day in Naples, Italy. The 22 Jun 1966 Var noted that production was about to move to the French Riviera for four weeks. Locations there included the “former Riviera villa of the Baroness Rothschild at Cap Ferrat,” according to the 6 Jul 1966 Var. Filming concluded in Italy by late Aug 1966, the 31 Aug 1966 Var stated.
The budget was listed in contemporary sources as $1.8-$2 million.
Theatrical release was delayed until early Jan 1968 when Columbia Pictures discovered that The Biggest Bundle of Them All had a strikingly similar plot to its 1967 release, The Happening (see entry). An article in the 6 Dec 1967 Var stated that Sam Spiegel, a producer of The Happening, agreed not to file a lawsuit against Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) in exchange for a percentage of the profits on ...
In a 4 Nov 1964 Var news item, The Biggest Bundle of Them All was listed as one of several upcoming projects for Berkshire Productions, recently set up by filmmaker Josef Shaftel following his departure from Don Fedderson Productions.
Warren Beatty was cast, according to a 17 Mar 1966 DV brief, but he did not remain with the project. Cliff Robertson was also offered a role, as noted in the 23 Mar 1966 DV.
Principal photography took place in Italy and France. A production chart in the 29 Apr 1966 DV stated that shooting had commenced 26 Apr 1966, but a later item in the 3 May 1966 DV reported that filming had begun the previous day in Naples, Italy. The 22 Jun 1966 Var noted that production was about to move to the French Riviera for four weeks. Locations there included the “former Riviera villa of the Baroness Rothschild at Cap Ferrat,” according to the 6 Jul 1966 Var. Filming concluded in Italy by late Aug 1966, the 31 Aug 1966 Var stated.
The budget was listed in contemporary sources as $1.8-$2 million.
Theatrical release was delayed until early Jan 1968 when Columbia Pictures discovered that The Biggest Bundle of Them All had a strikingly similar plot to its 1967 release, The Happening (see entry). An article in the 6 Dec 1967 Var stated that Sam Spiegel, a producer of The Happening, agreed not to file a lawsuit against Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) in exchange for a percentage of the profits on The Biggest Bundle of Them All, rumored to be close to twenty-five percent. MGM also agreed to delay the opening of its film until eight months after The Happening’s release.
Harry Price and his inept crew of amateur criminals kidnap Cesare Celli, an exiled American gangster living in Italy and hold him for ransom. When it turns out that none of Celli's friends will bail him out, he conceives the idea of a $5-million platinum robbery both as a way of repaying Price and his gang for their kidnapping effort and to retaliate against a world that has passed him by. Celli puts the novice criminals through rigorous physical training and brings in the renowned Professor Samuels to mastermind the heist. The gang encounters numerous difficulties in raising capital for the robbery, but finally they are ready to put their plan into action. The special railway car carrying the platinum will be blocked by a surplus tank, and the loot will be loaded onto a hijacked bomber for transport to a fence in Morocco. Despite consistent bumbling and threats by Harry and his girl friend Juliana to betray Celli and abscond with the platinum, the robbery is successful and the plane makes its getaway. All the gang's efforts come to naught, however, when the plane's bomb doors are accidentally opened and the platinum descends into the waiting arms of the ...
Harry Price and his inept crew of amateur criminals kidnap Cesare Celli, an exiled American gangster living in Italy and hold him for ransom. When it turns out that none of Celli's friends will bail him out, he conceives the idea of a $5-million platinum robbery both as a way of repaying Price and his gang for their kidnapping effort and to retaliate against a world that has passed him by. Celli puts the novice criminals through rigorous physical training and brings in the renowned Professor Samuels to mastermind the heist. The gang encounters numerous difficulties in raising capital for the robbery, but finally they are ready to put their plan into action. The special railway car carrying the platinum will be blocked by a surplus tank, and the loot will be loaded onto a hijacked bomber for transport to a fence in Morocco. Despite consistent bumbling and threats by Harry and his girl friend Juliana to betray Celli and abscond with the platinum, the robbery is successful and the plane makes its getaway. All the gang's efforts come to naught, however, when the plane's bomb doors are accidentally opened and the platinum descends into the waiting arms of the police.
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