The Rip-Off (film)

Last updated
The Rip Off
The Rip-Off.jpg
Directed by Antonio Margheriti
Screenplay by
Story by
  • Paul Costello
  • Marc Princi
  • Giovanni Simonelli [1]
Produced by Turi Vasile [1]
Starring
CinematographySergio D'Offizi [1]
Edited byRoberto Sterbini [1]
Music byPaolo Vasile [1]
Production
companies
  • Laser Film
  • Dritte Centama Gbth [1]
Release dates
  • 25 October 1978 (1978-10-25)(Stockholm, Sweden)
  • 1 April 1980 (1980-04-01)(Italy)
Running time
100 minutes
Countries
  • Italy
  • West Germany [1]

The Rip-Off (Italian : Controrapina), also known as The Squeeze and Diamond Thieves, is a 1978 crime action film directed by Antonio Margheriti. It was Margheriti's third collaboration with actor Lee Van Cleef, after previously directing him in The Stranger and the Gunfighter and Take a Hard Ride .

Contents

Plot

Retired safe-cracker Chris Gretchko is coaxed out of comfortable retirement by Jeff Olafson, the impulsive son of a former accomplice, who begs him to help steal an undocumented shipment of diamonds to satiate Van Stratten, a New York City crime boss whose mistress, Jessica, has been seeing Jeff on the side.

Chris subsequently recruits his old friend, pawn shop owner Sam, who agrees to fence the diamonds afterward. When they learn Van Stratten intends to cut them out of the deal, Chris and Jeff plot a countermeasure, resulting in Jeff getting thrown in jail to give him plausible deniability, and Chris convalescing in a safe house after getting shot during the heist. Clarisse, an eccentric neighbor in the building, discovers Chris, and agrees to help tend his injuries and lie to police who come looking for him. However, Captain Donati begins to piece together the events, and all the involved parties find their lives in danger.

Cast

Production

The Rip-Off was filmed in Hamburg and on location in New York City and New Jersey from December 1977 to February 1978. [1]

Release

The Rip-Off was released theatrically in Stockholm, Sweden on October 25, 1978. [2] It as released later in Italy in 1979. [3] [4] The film has been released in the United States under the titles The Rip-Off and The Squeeze. [5]

Notes

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Curti 2013, p. 253.
  2. ↑ "Ho tentato di vivere". Swedish Film Database . Archived from the original on October 1, 2025. Retrieved September 30, 2025.
  3. ↑ "Un sacchetto di diamanti". Corriere della Sera . 25 April 1979. p. 19.
  4. ↑ p. per. (5 June 1979). "Grande bidone al vecchio bandito". La Stampa . No. 122. p. 15. Retrieved 1 October 2025.
  5. ↑ "Gretchko". Filmportal.de . Retrieved July 19, 2017.

References

  • Curti, Roberto (2013). Italian Crime Filmography, 1968-1980. McFarland. ISBN   978-1476612089.


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