Rough Cut (1980)

An American millionaire (Burt Reynolds) living in London meets an attractive woman (Lesley Anne Down) at a party. They soon find they have something in common ..... they are both thieves. She's just a kleptomaniac but he's a professional. It isn't long before they both get involved in a heist of $30 million in uncut diamonds. Based on the novel TOUCH THE LION'S PAW by Derek Lambert and directed by Don Siegel (THE BEGUILED). What should have been a glamorous and sophisticated comedy heist caper fumbles. The behind the scenes machinations didn't help any. The original director Blake Edwards quit because he didn't like Larry Gelbart's (TOOTSIE) script. In order to make STARTING OVER, Reynolds had to give up script and director approval. Gelbart didn't like the finished film and rather than have his name on it, it carries a pseudonym of Francis Burns. Siegel and producer David Merrick didn't get along and Merrick fired him. Peter Hunt (ON HER MAJESTY'S SECRET SERVICE) was brought in to replace him. Three different endings were shot and David Niven (playing a Scotland Yard inspector) sued Merrick for back pay. Of course, it's what's on the screen that matters and one can see the skeleton of a Cary Grant-ish sophisticated romantic thriller (think CHARADE or TO CATCH A THIEF) and while the result is far from terrible, it remains a moderately entertaining wannabe. In the end, I think Siegel was the wrong kind of director for something like this. It needed a Stanley Donen or Blake Edwards. With Timothy West, Patrick Magee, Joss Ackland, Roland Culver and Cassandra Harris.