The Swiss Conspiracy

Last updated
The Swiss Conspiracy
The Swiss Conspiracy.jpg
Directed by Jack Arnold
Written by Norman Klenman
Philip Saltzman
Michael Stanley
Produced by Maurice Silverstein
Starring David Janssen
Senta Berger
Elke Sommer
John Ireland
Cinematography W.P. Hassenstein
Music by Klaus Doldinger
Distributed by S.J. International Pictures
Release dates
  • 1976 (1976)(UK)
  • September 1977 (1977-09)(US)
Running time
83 min.
CountriesWest Germany
United States
LanguageEnglish

The Swiss Conspiracy is a 1976 action film directed by Jack Arnold and starring David Janssen, Senta Berger and Elke Sommer. It was co-produced between West Germany and the United States. [1]

Contents

Plot

A Swiss bank learns that the confidentiality of several anonymous numbered accounts has been compromised and blackmail threats have been made to five holders of the accounts. They include a crooked arms dealer, who received a demand for five million Swiss francs. He refuses to pay and is shot dead. The bank is also told to pay ten million francs to keep the accounts secret.

The bank hires David Christopher a former U.S. Treasury official who now resides in Geneva. In the course of his investigation, Christopher talks to the four living blackmailees - beautiful Zürich resident Denise Abbott, Texas businessman Dwight McGowan Chicago crook Robert Hayes and Dutchman Andre Kosta.

He identifies a number of suspects. One is Rita Jensen, the mistress of the bank's vice-president, Franz Benninger. There is also Benninger himself as well as Korsak and Sando, who are out to kill Hayes and Christopher.

Bank president Johann Hurtil cannot believe that Benninger is corrupt. However, it emerges that the latter transferred control of a bank account to his mistress, who was legally entitled to it but didn't have the correct documents.

Captain Hans Frey of the Swiss Federal Police is suspicious of Christopher's activities and follows him.

The bank decides to pay the blackmailer, using uncut diamonds. Christopher insists on accompanying the diamonds to the collection point high in the snow-covered Alps. The blackmailees turn out to be blackmailing each other and the collector of the diamonds is shot, falling off a high alpine rock face. Christopher recovers the stones.

Cast

Production

The film was filmed entirely on location in and around Zurich. [2]

Reception

Time Out said of the film, ”A monotonous, glossily vacuous co-production thriller that sends Janssen skidding through the scenic snow in the midst of an incomprehensible blackmail-and-murder plot involving five shadowy Zurich account-holders.” [3]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">David Janssen</span> American actor (1931–1980)

David Janssen was an American film and television actor who is best known for his starring role as Richard Kimble in the television series The Fugitive (1963–1967). Janssen also had the title roles in three other series: Richard Diamond, Private Detective; O'Hara, U.S. Treasury; and Harry O.

The Pink Panther is an American media franchise primarily focusing on a series of comedy-mystery films featuring an inept French police detective, Inspector Jacques Clouseau. The franchise began with the release of the film The Pink Panther in 1963. The role of Clouseau was originated by and is most closely associated with Peter Sellers. Most of the films were written and directed by Blake Edwards, with theme music composed by Henry Mancini. Elements and characters inspired by the films were adapted into other media, including books, comic books, video games and animated series.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Konstanz</span> City in Baden-Württemberg, Germany

Konstanz, also known as Constance in English, is a university city with approximately 83,000 inhabitants located at the western end of Lake Constance in the south of Germany. The city houses the University of Konstanz and was the residence of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Konstanz for more than 1,200 years.

Swissair was the national airline of Switzerland between its founding in 1931 and bankruptcy in 2002.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Banking in Switzerland</span>

Banking in Switzerland dates to the early 18th century through Switzerland's merchant trade and has, over the centuries, grown into a complex, regulated, and international industry. Banking is seen as emblematic of Switzerland. The country has a long history of banking secrecy and client confidentiality reaching back to the early 1700s. Starting as a way to protect wealthy European banking interests, Swiss banking secrecy was codified in 1934 with the passage of a landmark federal law, the Federal Act on Banks and Savings Banks. These laws, which were used to protect assets of persons being persecuted by Nazi authorities, have also been used by people and institutions seeking to illegally evade taxes, hide assets, or generally commit financial crime.

<i>The Bourne Identity</i> (novel) 1980 spy novel by Robert Ludlum

The Bourne Identity is a 1980 spy fiction thriller by Robert Ludlum that tells the story of Jason Bourne, a man with remarkable survival abilities who has retrograde amnesia, and must seek to discover his true identity. In the process, he must also determine why several shadowy groups, a professional assassin, and the CIA want him dead. It is the first novel of the original Bourne Trilogy, which also includes The Bourne Supremacy and The Bourne Ultimatum.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Elke Sommer</span> German actress (born 1940)

Elke Sommer is a German actress. She appeared in numerous films in her heyday throughout the 1960s and 1970s, including roles in The Pink Panther sequel A Shot in the Dark (1964), the Bob Hope comedy Boy, Did I Get a Wrong Number! (1966), Agatha Christie's And Then There Were None (1974), and the British Carry On series in Carry On Behind (1975).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Credit Suisse</span> Swiss multinational bank

Credit Suisse is a global investment bank and financial services firm founded and based in Switzerland as a standalone firm but now a subsidiary of UBS. According to UBS, eventually Credit Suisse will be fully integrated into UBS but while the integration is not complete both banks are operating separately. Headquartered in Zürich, as a standalone firm it maintained offices in all major financial centers around the world and provided services in investment banking, private banking, asset management, and shared services. It was known for strict bank–client confidentiality and banking secrecy. The Financial Stability Board considered it to be a global systemically important bank. Credit Suisse was also a primary dealer and Forex counterparty of the Federal Reserve in the United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Harry Saltzman</span> Canadian theatre and film producer (1915–1994)

Herschel "Harry" Saltzman was a Canadian theatre and film producer. He is best remembered for co-producing the first nine of the James Bond film series with Albert R. Broccoli. He lived most of his life in Denham, Buckinghamshire, England.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Switzerland during the World Wars</span> History of Switzerland from 1914 to 1918 and 1939 to 1945

During World War I and World War II, Switzerland maintained armed neutrality, and was not invaded by its neighbors, in part because of its topography, much of which is mountainous. Germany was a threat and Switzerland built a powerful defense. It served as a "protecting power" for the belligerents of both sides, with a special role in helping prisoners of war. The belligerent states made it the scene for diplomacy, espionage, and commerce, as well as being a safe haven for 300,000 refugees.

Édouard Stern was a French banker who was infamously murdered in Geneva, Switzerland, by a woman he had a four-year relationship with. At the time of his death, he was the 38th richest French citizen.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Coutts</span> British private bank

Coutts & Co. is a British private bank and wealth manager headquartered in London, England.

<i>The Man Who Knew Too Much</i> (1934 film) 1934 film by Alfred Hitchcock

The Man Who Knew Too Much is a 1934 British spy thriller film directed by Alfred Hitchcock, featuring Leslie Banks and Peter Lorre, and released by Gaumont British. It was one of the most successful and critically acclaimed films of Hitchcock's British period.

The World Jewish Congress lawsuit against Swiss banks was launched in 1995 to retrieve deposits made into the three largest Swiss banks by victims of Nazi persecution during and prior to World War II. WJC negotiations were initiated with the Government of Switzerland and Swiss banks, and later expanded to cover Swiss insurance companies, over burdensome proof-of-ownership requirements for accounts and insurance policies. Strong support from both federal and state United States politicians and officials, threats of sanctions against the three Swiss banks, as well as leaked documents from a bank guard pressured a settlement of the suit in 1998 in a U.S. court for multiple classes of people affected by government and banking practices. The Swiss government itself was not a signatory to the deal. As of early 2020, US$1.29 billion has been disbursed to approximately 458,400 claimants.

<i>Operation Amsterdam</i> 1959 war film by Michael McCarthy

Operation Amsterdam is a 1959 black and white British action film, directed by Michael McCarthy, and featuring Peter Finch, Eva Bartok and Tony Britton. It is based on a true story as described in the book Adventure in Diamonds, by David E. Walker. The action of the story covers 12–13 May 1940 during the German invasion of the Netherlands. The composer Philip Green composed two original pieces of music for the film, the Pierement Waltz and the Amsterdam Polka.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wegelin & Co.</span>

Wegelin & Co. is a former private bank that was located in St. Gallen in the Canton of St. Gallen in Switzerland, and specialized in private banking and asset management.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">UBS tax evasion controversies</span> Tax evasion by Swiss bank UBS

The Swiss investment bank and financial services company, UBS Group AG, has been at the center of numerous tax evasion and avoidance investigations undertaken by U.S., French, German, Israeli, and Belgian tax authorities as a consequence of their strict banking secrecy practices.

<i>Largo Winch II</i> 2011 French film

Largo Winch II is a 2011 French action thriller film based on the Belgian comic book Largo Winch. It was released in France and Belgium on 16 February 2011. It is the sequel to the 2008 film Largo Winch.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2015 FIFA corruption case</span> Cases of corruption by officials and associates connected with FIFA

In 2015, United States federal prosecutors disclosed cases of corruption by officials and associates connected with the Fédération internationale de Football Association (FIFA), the governing body of association football, futsal and beach soccer.

Baumann & Cie, Banquiers, headquartered in Basel, is a Swiss private bank specializing in wealth management and investment advisory.

References

  1. The Swiss Conspiracy (1976) | MUBI , retrieved 2023-12-18
  2. "The Restoration of The Swiss Conspiracy – STEVE ALDOUS, Writer". 2023-11-18. Retrieved 2023-12-18.
  3. PT (2012-09-10). "The Swiss Conspiracy". Time Out Worldwide. Retrieved 2023-12-18.