Crime and Passion (1976)

R | 92 mins | Comedy-drama | 1976

Director:

Ivan Passer

Producer:

Robert L. Abrams

Cinematographer:

Denis C. Lewiston

Production Designer:

Herta Pischinger

Production Company:

Gloria Films
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HISTORY

       Various working titles were used for Crime and Passion. While a 13 Jan 1975 Box news item refered to the film as Lies, a 29 Apr 1975 HR brief announced the title was changed from An Ace up My Sleeve, the title of the 1971 James Hadley Chase novel upon which the film was based to Strange Behavior. However, DV reported on 9 Jun 1975 that the picture was still known as An Ace up My Sleeve, but the title was being changed to Three to Get Ready.
       A 3 Nov 1970 HR news item announced that producer Ralph Nelson had acquired film rights to the novel An Ace up My Sleeve, and production was scheduled for spring of 1971. However, an 11 Mar 1975 DV news item speculated that Nelson would have to delay the project as he had been hired to produce a sequel to his 1971 film Flight of the Doves (see entry). Nelson is not credited onscreen for producing Crime and Passion.
       According to production notes in AMPAS library files, the script was written by Jesse Lasky, Jr., his wife Pat Silver, as well as William Richert and Ivan Passer. The screenwriters reportedly based the script on a previous screenplay by Allan Trustman and David M. Wolf, however, only Lasky and Silver are credited on screen.
       Two weeks prior to when principal photography was set to begin, the producer, director, and screenwriter were removed from the project, according to ...

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       Various working titles were used for Crime and Passion. While a 13 Jan 1975 Box news item refered to the film as Lies, a 29 Apr 1975 HR brief announced the title was changed from An Ace up My Sleeve, the title of the 1971 James Hadley Chase novel upon which the film was based to Strange Behavior. However, DV reported on 9 Jun 1975 that the picture was still known as An Ace up My Sleeve, but the title was being changed to Three to Get Ready.
       A 3 Nov 1970 HR news item announced that producer Ralph Nelson had acquired film rights to the novel An Ace up My Sleeve, and production was scheduled for spring of 1971. However, an 11 Mar 1975 DV news item speculated that Nelson would have to delay the project as he had been hired to produce a sequel to his 1971 film Flight of the Doves (see entry). Nelson is not credited onscreen for producing Crime and Passion.
       According to production notes in AMPAS library files, the script was written by Jesse Lasky, Jr., his wife Pat Silver, as well as William Richert and Ivan Passer. The screenwriters reportedly based the script on a previous screenplay by Allan Trustman and David M. Wolf, however, only Lasky and Silver are credited on screen.
       Two weeks prior to when principal photography was set to begin, the producer, director, and screenwriter were removed from the project, according to the 21 May 1975 DV, leaving the new producer, Robert L. Abrams to find replacements before the start date. Principal photography was completed by 20 May 1975.
       According to a 17 Feb 1975 LAHExam news item, actor Christopher Plummer was replaced by Omar Sharif in playing the role of “Andre.”
      The end credits include a statement that the film was shot entirely on location in Austria.

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SOURCE CITATIONS
SOURCE
DATE
PAGE
Box Office
13 Jan 1975
---
Daily Variety
11 Mar 1975
---
Daily Variety
21 May 1975
---
Hollywood Reporter
3 Nov 1970
---
Hollywood Reporter
25 Feb 1976
p. 4
Hollywood Reporter
29 Apr 1975
---
LAHExam
17 Feb 1975
---
New York Times
22 Apr 1976
p. 38
Variety
25 Feb 1976
p. 22
CAST
PRODUCTION CREDITS
NAME
PARENT COMPANY
PRODUCTION COMPANY
PRODUCTION TEXT
Samuel Z. Arkoff and Gloria Films Present
DISTRIBUTION COMPANY
NAME
CREDITED AS
CREDIT
DIRECTORS
Asst dir
2d asst dir
PRODUCERS
Assoc prod
Exec prod
WRITERS
PHOTOGRAPHY
Dir of photog
Stunt cam
ART DIRECTORS
Asst art dir
Graphics
FILM EDITORS
Film ed
Film ed
1st asst ed
COSTUMES
Cost des
MUSIC
SOUND
Sd rec
Sd rec
Sd ed
VISUAL EFFECTS
Spec eff
Spec eff
MAKEUP
Make up & hair
Make up & hair
Miss Black's make up & hair
PRODUCTION MISC
Prod accountant
Scr supv
Loc mgr
Casting
STAND INS
Stunt driver
COLOR PERSONNEL
[Col by]
SOURCES
LITERARY
Based on the novel An Ace up My Sleeve by James Hadley Chase (London, 1971).
LITERARY SOURCE AUTHOR
DETAILS
Alternate Titles:
An Ace up My Sleeve
Lies
Strange Behavior
Three to Get Ready
Release Date:
1976
Premiere Information:
New York opening: 21 Apr 1976
Production Date:
end late May 1975
Copyright Info
Claimant
Date
Copyright Number
American International Pictures, Inc.
10 December 1975
LP49133
Physical Properties:
Sound
Color
Duration(in mins):
92
MPAA Rating:
R
Countries:
Germany, United States
Language:
English
PCA No:
24360
SYNOPSIS

Andre Ferren is nearing financial ruin and may soon be fired from his high level position at a brokerage firm. One morning, Susan, his co-worker and girl friend, takes him into the conference room and informs him that his biggest client, Herman Rolf, wants to replace Andre with Susan, who also remarks that Rolf asked her on date, but she turned him down. Andre and Susan make love, unaware that Rolf and his manservant, Henkel, are watching them via hidden camera. After Andre orders Susan to go on the date after all, Rolf asks Susan to marry him, and she agrees under the condition that Rolf will entrust his fortune to Andre as a wedding present. Weeks later, at Rolf’s castle in the Swiss Alps, a huge antique mortar is fired as Andre gives Susan away at the wedding ceremony. Later, Andre assures Susan that, in six months, he will create a financial scandal that will ruin Rolf and she can divorce him. Nine months later, with Rolf still secretly filming the conference room, Andre is summoned to meet the company’s top executives, who accuse Andre of stealing $2.5 million from Rolf’s account. Andre has ten days to return the money or go to prison. Andre drives to a ski resort in the Alps, where he finds Susan flirting with Larry, a young ski instructor. Susan is furious that she has not heard from Andre, but relents when he insists he is being framed and pleads for help. As Susan teaches Andre to ski, Larry zooms by and asks Susan to race him. When Susan abandons the hapless Andre and gives chase, ...

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Andre Ferren is nearing financial ruin and may soon be fired from his high level position at a brokerage firm. One morning, Susan, his co-worker and girl friend, takes him into the conference room and informs him that his biggest client, Herman Rolf, wants to replace Andre with Susan, who also remarks that Rolf asked her on date, but she turned him down. Andre and Susan make love, unaware that Rolf and his manservant, Henkel, are watching them via hidden camera. After Andre orders Susan to go on the date after all, Rolf asks Susan to marry him, and she agrees under the condition that Rolf will entrust his fortune to Andre as a wedding present. Weeks later, at Rolf’s castle in the Swiss Alps, a huge antique mortar is fired as Andre gives Susan away at the wedding ceremony. Later, Andre assures Susan that, in six months, he will create a financial scandal that will ruin Rolf and she can divorce him. Nine months later, with Rolf still secretly filming the conference room, Andre is summoned to meet the company’s top executives, who accuse Andre of stealing $2.5 million from Rolf’s account. Andre has ten days to return the money or go to prison. Andre drives to a ski resort in the Alps, where he finds Susan flirting with Larry, a young ski instructor. Susan is furious that she has not heard from Andre, but relents when he insists he is being framed and pleads for help. As Susan teaches Andre to ski, Larry zooms by and asks Susan to race him. When Susan abandons the hapless Andre and gives chase, another skier tries to impale Andre with a ski pole, but Andre falls, causing the other man to die. That night, Susan tells Andre that she cannot be seen with him or else Rolf will divorce her. Andre reminds Susan of their plan, but she explains that Rolf murdered all his ex-wives. Andre then asks Susan to write a letter claiming it was she who ordered Andre to move the $2.5 million into a Swiss bank account, but she refuses. The next morning, as Larry flirts with Susan at breakfast, they see Andre nearly get hit by a passing car and Susan runs away crying. Later, as Andre follows Larry and Susan to Rolf’s castle, a truck forces Andre’s car off the road, leaving him to trudge through the snow to the nearby village. Meanwhile, at the castle, Susan tells Larry about a headless knight who haunts the bell tower. Larry climbs the tower to find an empty suit of armor and when he asks the ghost to reveal itself, a dove flies out of the knight’s helmet. Elsewhere, Andre arrives at an inn, where a pretty maid draws him a hot bath and asks if he wants a massage. Although Andre agrees, a large woman takes over, lifts him out of the tub, starts to strangle him, but he manages to escape. As Andre leaves, the innkeeper calls Rolf. At the castle, Susan performs oral sex on Larry but is interrupted when Larry sees the suit of armor in the doorway, and tries to escape through a window. When he looks back, the armor is gone. Later, Andre sneaks into the castle and is almost killed by the knight in armor. He runs upstairs, where a sword-wielding Larry forces Andre into a prison cell, explaining his actions are part of Susan’s sex game. Sometime later, Susan asks Larry to drive her car to Switzerland and deliver a letter to a banker. Larry protests until he realizes the car is a Maserati. As he drives down the mountain, he passes Rolf’s Rolls Royce, and Henkel shoots, causing the Maserati to explode with Larry inside. Back in the cell, Andre is nearly stabbed through the bars by the knight. Andre yells for Susan as the killer smashes the lock, and lunges for Andre, but Susan appears and shoots the knight with a rifle. She lifts the visor to see that the knight is the innkeeper. As the man dies, Susan notices a hidden camera. Meanwhile, in the Rolls Royce, Rolf watches footage from the surveillance camera as he sends Henkel on foot to kill Andre. Back at the castle, Susan finds more cameras. She stares into one and tells Rolf that she thought they had an understanding. She had grown to care for Rolf, but now her feelings have changed. She strips to her underwear and tells Andre to make love to her, then smashes the camera. In the Rolls Royce, a tear runs down Rolf’s eye as he watches the static. Outside, Henkel locks the castle gates, then hides in the giant mortar when he hears Andre and Susan approaching. Although Susan wants Andre to make love to her, Andre tries to escape the castle before Rolf arrives and kills them. Susan pulls the mortar’s lanyard. The mortar fires, shooting Henkel over the wall and down the mountain. When Henkel’s scarf floats down, Andre and Susan realize they have killed the pursuer. On the road, Rolf gets drunk, falls down a ravine and walks through the snow. The next morning, Andre and Susan lie in bed and, although each believed the other had stolen the money, they realize that Rolf set them up as part of a sick game to murder them. Meanwhile, at the foot of the castle, Rolf stares with unseeing eyes. During the night, he froze to death standing up.

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Legend
Viewed by AFI
Partially Viewed
Offscreen Credit
Name Occurs Before Title
AFI Life Achievement Award

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