Lassiter (1984) Warner Bros./Action-Thriller RT: 100 minutes Rated R (language, violence, nudity, sexual content) Director: Roger Young Screenplay: David Taylor Music: Ken Thorne Cinematography: Gil Taylor Release date: February 17, 1984 (US) Cast: Tom Selleck, Jane Seymour, Lauren Hutton, Bob Hoskins, Joe Regalbuto, Ed Lauter, Warren Clarke, Edward Peel, Paul Antrim, Christopher Malcolm, Barrie Houghton, Peter Skellern, Harry Towb, Belinda Mayne, Morgan Sheppard, Brian Coburn, David Warbeck, Nicholas Bond-Owen. Box Office: $17.5M (US)
Rating: ***
I was elated when Lassiter finally came out on DVD (April 24, 2012). I always liked this neat little comedy caper. It’s funny because I wasn’t planning on seeing it that Sunday afternoon (February 19, 1984). My original plan was to see the first matinee of Blame It on Rio at the long-gone Budco Springfield Theater. I decided last minute to make a day of it and see both. I didn’t have school the next day (President’s Day) so why not. I also decided to make it a two-for-one; pay for one and sneak into the second, an incredible feat when you consider that it was a twin theater which made it easier for the staff to guard the theater doors. It was only later in life when I realized the staff probably didn’t give a s***. For minimum wage, who would?
I saw Lassiter first and didn’t have high hopes. I had just seen High Road to China on cable and didn’t like the 1920s-set action-adventure piece starring Tom Selleck in his first lead role in a feature film. I quickly found myself captivated by Lassiter in which the Magnum P.I. star plays Nick Lassiter, an American gentleman jewel thief operating out of pre-WWII London (circa 1939). When we first meet him, he’s sneaking into the mansion of a rich couple. In the process of robbing the place, the couple comes home and Lassiter has to play cat and mouse to avoid being seen. Alas, the wife sees him and quickly hides him in her dressing room where she invites him to help her take off her evening dress. When she goes to make a move on the suave thief, she finds that he’s already disappeared into the night by climbing out the bathroom window. It’s a pretty good start. Director Roger Young (The Squeeze) manages to keep the fun going throughout the picture.
The next day, Lassiter is arrested and taken to the police station where he’s blackmailed into helping Scotland Yard and the American FBI with a delicate operation. They want him to break into the German embassy and steal $10 million worth of diamonds that will be used to finance Hitler’s military plans. If he doesn’t, he will be sent to prison for 20 years for a serious crime that he didn’t commit. It makes no difference to Inspector John Becker (Hoskins, The Long Good Friday) of Scotland Yard. He hates Lassiter and wants to put him away no matter what he does. On the other hand, FBI agent Peter Breeze (Regalbuto, Raw Deal) stresses the importance of the operation in preventing the escalation of the hostilities in Europe.
In order to find out where the diamonds are being kept, Lassiter seduces German spy Kari Von Fursten (Hutton, Once Bitten) who’s staying at the heavily guarded embassy. She’s not somebody you want to mess with. She already killed the guy the FBI had on the inside in the middle of sex. Like the song says, she’s as cold as ice. This part of the job doesn’t set well with Lassiter’s longtime girlfriend Sara (Seymour, Somewhere in Time), a dance hall hostess who just wants her man to go someplace with her, anyplace, and leave this life behind. Unfortunately, it’s impossible for him to just walk away. He’s going to have to find a way to get the jewels and still avoid going to prison.
Okay, Lassiter is essentially a variation of Alfred Hitchcock’s 1955 romantic thriller To Catch a Thief with a little bit of Indiana Jones thrown in, but it works like a charm. For one thing, it’s light-hearted and fun. It never takes itself seriously. For another, Selleck is great in the lead. He’s believable as a debonair jewel thief who has a way with the ladies. I always found it odd that Selleck never had that successful of a movie career. He’s one of the better actors who tried to make the difficult transition from small screen to big screen. In my opinion, he made a successful transition. I’ve liked a great many of his movies- Runaway, Three Men and a Baby, Her Alibi, An Innocent Man, Quigley Down Under and In & Out, just to name a few. The only ones to make any significant money at the box office are Three Men and a Baby ($167.7 million) and In & Out ($63.8 million). That’s what it comes down to, faithful readers, the almighty box office $$$.
The entire supporting cast does a great job, especially the late Hoskins as the hard ass British cop. He makes a great little tough guy. I could have seen him playing Andy Capp had they ever made a film of the long-running British comic strip (since 1957!). Seymour is a good match for Selleck as the girlfriend who wants him all to herself, preferably alive. Hutton is great as the icy, black widow-esque German spy. I especially liked seeing Ed Lauter (Death Wish 3) as Lassiter’s pal Smoke, an American car thief in London. He lives there so he can practice his trade without worrying about being shot by a cop (British cops don’t carry guns).
Lassiter totally works as a period piece. The decor and costumes look absolutely authentic. Besides, I like heroes that wear tuxes and know how to trip the light fantastic. The music really adds to the movie’s sense of time. At one point, Lassiter and his girlfriend dance to “Let’s Face the Music and Dance”. The closing theme (“Beware of the Winners”) is performed by retro-rocker Taco. People of a certain age will no doubt remember his 1983 hit version of “Puttin’ On the Ritz”.
Lassiter is everything a good comedy caper should be- light, funny and entertaining. I like to revisit it every now and then as a reminder of a time when mid-budget movies still got released to theaters. They didn’t all have to be megabudget spectacles. Lassiter is the very definition of Hidden Treasure.
