Grand Slam (original title: Ad ogni costo) is a 1967 Italian-Spanish-German heist film directed by Giuliano Montaldo and starring Edward G. Robinson, Klaus Kinski and Janet Leigh.
At the suggestion of James Anders, a retired professor, a Ragtag Bunch of Misfits plans the robbery of a Brazilian diamond company in Rio de Janeiro during the Rio Carnival but it must contend with a new alarm system called Grand Slam 70 and the mutual distrust among its members.
Tropes:
- All for Nothing: At the end of the film, Anders and Mary Ann are sitting at outdoor cafe if Rome withe the bag containing the stolen diamonds on the table. They are distracted by a plane dropping leaflets, and a pair of snatch and grab thieves on a motorbike grab the bag and ride away, leaving them with nothing.
- Alliterative Name: Mark Milford, Anders' childhood friend and now a mob boss; the Backer in the Caper Crew.
- Cacophony Cover Up: Gregg uses the sound of the fireworks going off for Carnival to cover the noise of him using nitroglycerine to blow the door on the safe.
- The Caper: After retirement, Professor James Anders presents criminal Mark Milford an elaborate plan to rob a diamond company in Brazil with a crew of professionals.
- Caper Crew:
- Professor James Anders: The Mastermind
- Jean-Paul Audry: The Conman. A French playboy whose job it is to seduce the only woman with a key to the building holding the diamonds.
- Agostino Rossi: The Gadget Guy. An Italian mechanical and electronics genius.
- Gregg: The Safecracker
- Eric Weiss: The Muscle. A German ex-military man.
- Mark Milford: The Backer. Anders' childhood friend and now a mob boss, Milford puts Anders in touch with the rest of the crew and will fence the diamonds for him.
- The Charmer: Jean-Paul Audry, a French playboy whose job it is to seduce the only woman with a key to the building holding the diamonds.
- Defrosting Ice Queen: Jean-Paul has to seduce the prim and uptight executive secretary Mary Ann is order to lift the key to the vault from her. although she is initially distant and frosty towards him, she gradually melts under his attentions.
- Delivery Guy Infiltration: Weiss poses as a flower delivery man to return the key to Jean-Paul so he put it back before Mary Ann discovers it is missing.
- Every Car Is a Pinto: When Weiss pushes the getaway car off the cliff, it explodes into flames as soon as it hits the rocks. This would make sense if the car still had Gregg's nitroglycerine in it, but Weiss had used the remaining nitro in getting rid of he police chasing them.
- Fakin' MacGuffin: When Milford opens the case that supposedly contains the diamonds, he discovers it is empty. It is later revealed that Mary Ann had swapped it for an identical one before it was placed in the vault.
- From Camouflage to Criminal: Sergeant Eric Weiss is a German ex-military man (probably a paratrooper) who acts as the muscle for the Caper Crew.
- Grappling-Hook Pistol: A realistic version is used when the Caper Crew use a line thrower to string a cable from the clock tower of the school to the diamond company across the street.
- Hair-Trigger Explosive: Gregg opens the safe with specific nitroglycerine charges. Later, when being chased by the police, Weiss takes Gregg's flask of nitroglycerine and hurls at the police cars behind him, where it explodes in a fireball as soon as it hits the road.
- Honey Trap: Jean-Paul Audry is a French playboy whose job it is to seduce Mary Ann; the executive secretary with the only key to the room with the safe holding the diamonds.
- It's Always Mardi Gras in New Orleans: Invoked. Anders plans The Caper to go down during Carnival in Rio because it is the only time the diamonds will be held in the vault for more than 24 hours.
- Laser Hallway: Gregg and Agostino have to circumvent the network photocells which crisscross the entry corridor to the vault.
- The Mole: Professor Anders has conspired with Mary Ann with to use her position inside the company to steal the diamonds, and The Caper is really just to cover up the actual theft.
- No Honour Among Thieves: Weiss kills Jean-Paul and takes the case containing the diamonds and delivers it to his boss Milford. Milford then shoots Weiss. However, when Milford opens the case it is empty. The film then cuts to Rome where Anders meets up with Mary Ann and it is revealed hat Anders always expected Milford to betray him, and The Caper had just been an elaborate distraction to cover up the real theft of the diamonds by Mary Ann.
- Not in the Face!: When Weiss slaps Jean-Paul around to stop him walking away from the job after the Caper Crew discover the new "Grand Slam 70" safe system has been installed, Gregg tells him not to hit Jean-Paul in the face as they still need him to be able to seduce Mary Ann.
- Oh, Crap!: The look of panic of Weiss' face when he discovers that a car has parked on top of the manhole he was planning to use as an escape route.
- Ragtag Bunch of Misfits: Apart from Professor Anders, all of the Caper Crew are (supposedly) professionals, but none of them have ever worked together before and their personalities and working styles do not always mesh.
- Road Block: The Caper Crew encounter a police roadblock while leaving Rio. Everything goes well until the police check Jean-Paul's papers. When they try to pull him out of the car, Weiss floors it and smashes through the roadblock.
- Safecracking: The Caper Crew successfully enters the safe using a pneumatic trestle to bypass the photocell beams by crawling over them, accesses to the safe room with the Mary Ann's key stolen by Jean-Paul, move the safe to the corridor using shaving cream to dampen their sounds, and finally open the safe with specific nitroglycerine charges.
- Shoot Out the Lock: Milford shoots off the locks on the case containing the diamonds. Only to discover it is empty.
- Silence Is Golden: The heist itself is conducted in almost total silence. As a Shout-Out to Rififi, Gregg and Agostino crack the safe in total silence—they cannot speak because of the sound sensitive security system—and, because of the soundproof corridor, the only incidental sound is the faint noise of their tools. Weiss panicked run through the sewers has the background noise of the Carnival, but no dialogue because he is alone. Dialogue only returns when the action switches back Mary Ann's apartment.
- Spanner in the Works: Only when the Caper Crew is preparing their break-in do they discover that the diamond company has installed the new "Grand Slam 70" safe system: an alarm triggered by any sound detected near the safe room by means of a sensitive microphone listens for sounds while the safe and its environs are secured. This happened after Anders left Rio, so he could not have known about it.
- Spy Catsuit: Gregg and Agostino wear them when breaking into the diamond company.
- Steal the Surroundings: After discovering that they cannot open the safe inside the vault without setting off the sound-sensitive Grand Slam 70 security system, Gregg and Agostino come up with a way to silently move he safe out of the vault before cracking it.
- Take the Wheel: When they are being chased by the police, Weiss tells Jean-Paul to take the wheel so he can lean out of the window and throw Gregg's flask of nitroglycerine at them to discourage pursuit.
- Title Drop: A Spanner in the Works the Caper Crew encounter is the new "Grand Slam 70" safe system: an alarm triggered by any sound detected near the safe room by means of a sensitive microphone listens for sounds while the safe and its environs are secured.
- You Have Outlived Your Usefulness: Weiss betrays the Caper Crew, murders Jean-Paul, takes the case containing the diamonds. After he hands the case over to his boss Mark Milford, Milford immediately shoots him several times.
