7 Uomini E Un Cervello (aka Criminal Affair) (1968)

An Italian criminology professor (Rossano Brazzi) goes to Argentina to execute a daring heist during a performance of LA TRAVIATA at the Buenos Aires opera house. Co-written, produced and directed by Rossano Brazzi (who reputedly sunk his own money into this mess). International heist capers can be fun but this comedic effort is lame. Absolutely nothing about it works. Every cliche in these heist films from RIFIFI to OCEAN'S 11 is here. There's no suspense, no laughs and some talented people are wasted especially Ann-Margret who is simply used as eye candy here. To be fair, the transfer I saw was cut by about 16 minutes and the print was pretty ragged and while those 16 minutes might have added some needed coherency, there's no doubt in my mind that they would not have made it a better movie. With Roger Smith (Mr. Ann-Margret), Barbara Nichols (apparently a victim of the missing 16 minutes) and Helene Chanel.