Lassiter (film)

Last updated
Lassiter
Lassiter.jpg
Theatrical release poster by Steven Chorney
Directed by Roger Young
Written byDavid Taylor
Produced by Albert S. Ruddy
Starring
Cinematography Gil Taylor
Edited byBenjamin A. Weissman
Music by Ken Thorne
Production
company
Distributed by Warner Bros.
Release date
  • 17 February 1984 (1984-02-17)
Running time
100 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$20 million
Box office$17,513,452 [1]

Lassiter (also known as The Magnificent Thief) is a 1984 American heist spy film starring Tom Selleck and Jane Seymour. The movie was made to cash in on Selleck's popularity as the character Thomas Magnum in the television show Magnum, P.I. , but it failed to return its budget at the box-office on release. The Magnum, P.I. connection is perhaps most clearly seen by the movie poster tagline: The Magnum Man Hits the Big Screen with a Vengeance.

Contents

Plot

Nick Lassiter (Tom Selleck) is a gentleman jewel thief in 1939 London, England. He is arrested by the police after breaking into a London mansion and, after being a member of a phony lineup in which he is positively identified by a law enforcement plant, British law enforcement and the FBI blackmail Lassiter to break into the German Embassy and steal $10 million in Nazi diamonds from a German spy (Lauren Hutton), but first he must locate their hiding place. The gems are en route to South America and will be sold to help finance Hitler's military buildup. The authorities want the Nazi diamonds and to put Lassiter away for good, but he has other plans, and a surprise twist ending changes everything.

Cast

Production

The film was Selleck's second starring vehicle after becoming an international name with Magnum. He optioned the script himself, showed it to Golden Harvest while making High Road to China and they bought the option. [2]

Selleck signed to make Lassiter before High Road to China came out "because I thought it was a good idea to have another film lined up in case High Road didn't work." The film would be directed by Roger Young, who directed the pilot for Magnum, and the filmmakers agreed to work around Selleck's limited schedule - he could only film between April and June. [3]

"If I'd planned things out maybe I wouldn't have picked two period films in a row," he said. "But this was by far the best thing that came along. I hope I fit into it. I like the clothes and the hook." [2]

Selleck admitted shortly before filming that he was having second thoughts about making the movie. Advance word on High Road was strong and he was offered a number of other movies. However he stuck to his original promise. [3]

Selleck said "in a business where you often hear actors described as children its nice to be treated as a partner and as an equal. I was able to have a lot of input into the script, although it didn't need that much." [2]

"Nick Lassiter is a little rougher around the edges than Magnum," said Selleck. "He's a very self assured character. He should be able to walk into a movie with a certain amount of arrogance and gall." [2]

Reception

Lassiter grossed over $17.5 million at the box office against a $20 million budget, making this a commercial failure.

The film received mixed reviews from critics. Lassiter holds a 53% rating on Rotten Tomatoes based on 15 reviews as of 2023. [4]

Related Research Articles

<i>Beautiful Girls</i> (film) 1996 film directed by Ted Demme

Beautiful Girls is a 1996 American romantic comedy-drama film directed by Ted Demme and written by Scott Rosenberg. Its story follows New York jazz pianist Willie Conway, as he heads back to his hometown of Knight's Ridge, Massachusetts for his high school reunion, where he finds his friends evaluating their lives and relationships. It stars Matt Dillon, Noah Emmerich, Lauren Holly, Timothy Hutton, Rosie O'Donnell, Martha Plimpton, Natalie Portman, Michael Rapaport, Mira Sorvino and Uma Thurman.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tom Selleck</span> American actor (born 1945)

Thomas William Selleck is an American actor. His breakout role was playing private investigator Thomas Magnum in the television series Magnum, P.I. (1980–1988), for which he received five Emmy Award nominations for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series, winning in 1985. Since 2010, Selleck has co-starred as New York City Police Commissioner Frank Reagan in the series Blue Bloods. Beginning in 2005, he has portrayed troubled small-town police chief Jesse Stone in nine television films based on the Robert B. Parker novels.

Magnum, P.I. is an American crime drama television series starring Tom Selleck as Thomas Magnum, a private investigator (P.I.) living on Oahu, Hawaii. The series ran from December 11, 1980, to May 8, 1988, during its first-run broadcast on the American television network CBS. Magnum, P.I. consistently ranked in the top 20 U.S. television programs in the Nielsen ratings during the first five years of its original run, finishing as high as number three for the 1982–83 season. The series entered syndication in 1986 under the title Magnum in order to differentiate reruns from new episodes still airing under the original title on CBS.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chris Columbus (filmmaker)</span> American filmmaker (born 1958)

Chris Joseph Columbus is an American filmmaker. Born in Spangler, Pennsylvania, Columbus studied film at Tisch School of the Arts where he developed an interest in filmmaking. After writing screenplays for several teen comedies in the mid-1980s, he made his directorial debut with a teen adventure, Adventures in Babysitting (1987). Columbus gained recognition soon after with the highly successful Christmas comedy Home Alone (1990) and Home Alone 2: Lost in New York (1992).

<i>Three Men and a Baby</i> 1987 film by Leonard Nimoy

Three Men and a Baby is a 1987 American comedy film directed by Leonard Nimoy. It stars Tom Selleck, Steve Guttenberg, and Ted Danson as three bachelors as they attempt to adapt their lives to de facto fatherhood with the arrival of the love child of one of the men. The script was based on the 1985 French film Trois hommes et un couffin.

<i>American Gigolo</i> 1980 crime drama film by Paul Schrader

American Gigolo is a 1980 American neo-noir crime drama film written and directed by Paul Schrader, and starring Richard Gere and Lauren Hutton. It tells the story of a high-priced escort in Los Angeles (Gere) who becomes romantically involved with a prominent politician's wife (Hutton), while simultaneously becoming the prime suspect in a murder case.

<i>The Falcon and the Snowman</i> 1985 film by John Schlesinger

The Falcon and the Snowman is a 1985 American spy drama film directed by John Schlesinger. The screenplay by Steven Zaillian is based on the 1979 book The Falcon and the Snowman: A True Story of Friendship and Espionage by Robert Lindsey, and tells the true story of two young American men, Christopher Boyce and Andrew Daulton Lee, who sold US security secrets to the Soviet Union.

<i>Mr. Mom</i> 1983 American film directed by Stan Dragoti

Mr. Mom is a 1983 American comedy film directed by Stan Dragoti and produced by Lynn Loring, Lauren Shuler, and Aaron Spelling. It stars Michael Keaton, Teri Garr, Martin Mull, Ann Jillian, and Christopher Lloyd. It tells the story of a furloughed Detroit automotive engineer who becomes a stay-at-home dad and takes care of three young children, as his wife returns to a career in the advertising industry as an executive at a large agency. Released on July 22, 1983, the film received generally positive reviews from critics and was a box office success, grossing $64 million against its $5 million budget.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tom Holland (filmmaker)</span> American filmmaker (born 1943)

Thomas Lee Holland is an American filmmaker. He is best known for his work in the horror film genre, penning the 1983 sequel to the classic Alfred Hitchcock film Psycho, directing and co-writing the first entry in the long-running Child's Play franchise, and writing and directing the cult vampire film Fright Night. He also directed the Stephen King adaptations The Langoliers and Thinner. He is a two-time Saturn Award recipient. Holland made the jump into children’s literature in 2018 when he co-wrote How to Scare a Monster with fellow writer Dustin Warburton.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Joe Regalbuto</span> American actor and director (born 1949)

Joe Regalbuto is an American actor and director. He is known for his role as Frank Fontana on the CBS television sitcom Murphy Brown, which earned him a Primetime Emmy Award nomination in 1989.

<i>The Exorcism of Emily Rose</i> 2005 film by Scott Derrickson

The Exorcism of Emily Rose is a 2005 American supernatural horror legal drama film directed by Scott Derrickson and starring Laura Linney and Tom Wilkinson. The film is loosely based on the book The Exorcism of Anneliese Michel by Felicitas D. Goodman, which tells the story of Anneliese Michel and follows a self-proclaimed agnostic (Linney) who acts as defense counsel representing a parish priest (Wilkinson), accused by the state of negligent homicide after he performed an exorcism.

<i>Runaway</i> (1984 American film) 1984 science fiction action film directed by Michael Crichton

Runaway is a 1984 American science fiction action film written and directed by Michael Crichton, starring Tom Selleck, Gene Simmons, Cynthia Rhodes and Kirstie Alley. Selleck portrays a police officer assigned to track down dangerous robots, while Simmons is a scientist who hopes to profit from his manipulation of robots. The film was a box office disappointment and received mixed reviews.

<i>Skin Deep</i> (1989 film) 1989 film by Blake Edwards

Skin Deep is a 1989 American romantic sex comedy film written and directed by Blake Edwards and starring John Ritter.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Roger E. Mosley</span> American actor (1938–2022)

Roger Earl Mosley was an American actor, director, and writer best known for his role as the helicopter pilot Theodore "T.C." Calvin in the CBS television series Magnum, P.I., which originally aired from 1980 until 1988.

<i>Back Roads</i> (1981 film) 1981 film by Martin Ritt

Back Roads is a 1981 American romantic comedy film starring Sally Field and Tommy Lee Jones. It is directed by Martin Ritt. It got middling reviews and grossed $11 million at the box office. This was the first film produced by CBS Theatrical Films. The film was distributed by Warner Bros.

<i>Christopher Columbus: The Discovery</i> 1992 film by John Glen

Christopher Columbus: The Discovery is a 1992 historical adventure film directed by John Glen. It was the last project developed by the father and son production team of Alexander and Ilya Salkind. The film follows events after the fall of the Emirate of Granada, and leads up to the voyage of Columbus to the New World in 1492.

<i>Betrayed</i> (1988 film) 1988 film by Costa-Gavras

Betrayed is a 1988 American spy thriller film directed by Costa-Gavras, written by Joe Eszterhas, and starring Debra Winger and Tom Berenger. The plot is roughly based upon the terrorist activities of American neo-Nazi and white supremacist Robert Mathews and his group The Order.

<i>The Good Thief</i> (film) 2002 film by Neil Jordan

The Good Thief is a 2002 crime thriller film written and directed by Neil Jordan. It is a remake of the French film Bob le flambeur (1955) by Jean-Pierre Melville. The film, shot in both Monaco and Nice, France, follows a heroin-addicted retired thief through the setup and completion of one last job.

<i>High Road to China</i> (film) 1983 film by Brian G. Hutton

High Road to China is a 1983 American adventure-romance film set in the 1920s starring Tom Selleck in his first major starring role, playing a hard-drinking biplane pilot hired by society heiress Eve "Evie" Tozer to find her missing father. The supporting cast includes Robert Morley and Brian Blessed. The Golden Harvest film is loosely based on the 1977 novel of the same name by Jon Cleary. However, little beyond character names and the basic premise of an aerial race to China survived the translation to film.

<i>My Father the Hero</i> (1994 film) 1994 French film

My Father the Hero is a 1994 French-American comedy-drama directed by Steve Miner and starring Gérard Depardieu and Katherine Heigl. It is an English-language remake of the 1991 French film Mon père, ce héros, which also starred Depardieu in a similar role.

References

  1. Lassiter at Box Office Mojo
  2. 1 2 3 4 Mills, Nancy (21 August 1983). "MOVIES: GUESS WHO'S THRASHING NAZIS NOW". Los Angeles Times. p. r27.
  3. 1 2 Mann, Roderick (15 March 1983). "LOYAL AMID THE ROYAL TREATMENT". Los Angeles Times. p. g1.
  4. "Lassiter". Rotten Tomatoes .