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$ (film)
Encyclopedia
$, also known as Dollars and in the UK as The Heist, is a 1971 American caper film starring Warren Beatty
and Goldie Hawn
, and distributed by Columbia Pictures
. The movie was written and directed by Richard Brooks
and produced by M.J. Frankovich. The supporting cast includes Gert Fröbe
, Robert Webber
and Scott Brady
. The film was partly shot in Hamburg
, Germany, which forms the primary location of the film.
The film's title appears in the opening credits only in the form of a giant character, as would be used in a sign, being transported by a crane
.
, West Germany, several criminals use safe deposit box
es in a German bank to store large amounts of illicit cash. These include a Las Vegas
mobster as well as a ruthless drug smuggler known as the Candy Man and a crooked U.S. Army sergeant and his partner, who conspire on a big heroin and LSD
smuggling score. Joe Collins (Beatty), an American bank security consultant, has been spying on them and makes mysterious preparations to steal their money with the help of Dawn Divine (Hawn), a hooker with a heart of gold
.
Joe has Dawn phone in a bomb threat to the bank president, Mr. Kessel, to create a diversion. Joe locks himself inside the bank vault with a gold bar normally displayed in the lobby to supposedly save it. The bank is closed and evacuated while Joe uses duplicate keys to empty the criminals' three safe deposit boxes into to Dawn's box. (It is implied that Joe had secretly copied the criminals' keys while they were with Dawn.) Despite the fact that Kessel insists on burning through the wall to rescue Joe instead of waiting for the time lock to open, Joe succeeds in the heist and is hailed as a hero for "preventing" the robbery of the gold bar.
The next day, the criminals each discover that their boxes are empty and they cannot complete their schemes or go to the police. The Las Vegas mobster flees the country while the others search Dawn Divine's apartment—as she was their common link—and find clues that connect her to Joe. But Joe is tipped off and hurriedly sends Dawn to the train station with a suitcase packed with her take—$765,000—promising to meet her later.
Dawn gives the Sarge's partner the slip at the train station while the Candy Man and the Sarge chase Joe across the rail yard and through the Elbe Tunnel. Joe escapes on a car carrier truck, lugging his suitcase, but the Candy Man and the Sarge follow and catch up in the morning at a frozen lake, where the Candy Man crashes a car through the ice and drowns.
Joe escapes again by hopping a train, but during the night the Sarge catches up to him—only to find that Joe's suitcase contains nothing but a bottle of champagne and wads of newspaper. They conclude that Dawn double-crossed Joe by repacking the suitcases while he was getting the car, and they plan to go after her together. But, on drinking the champagne, the Sarge instantly goes into violent convulsions and falls down dead. The bottle was one of three that the Candy Man had filled with a solution of concentrated LSD to sneak them through customs
earlier in the film.
An epilog shows Dawn in a sunny climate in the USA, driving a gleaming new yellow Corvette, and then cuddling in bed with an unseen someone. Joe's bomber jacket hangs on the coat rack as she explains that she was certain the criminals wouldn't kill him and leave themselves with no way to get the money.
was composed by Quincy Jones
, with performances by Little Richard
, Roberta Flack
and Doug Kershaw
, in addition to featuring the Don Elliot Voices throughout the score.
Much of the film was shot in Hamburg
, West Germany in January and February 1971. Other filming locations included Malibu, California and Sweden.
The building depicted as the exterior of the bank was really the Kunsthalle
, Hamburg
's principal museum of art. The route followed in the chase scenes realistically takes the viewer through many of the city's unique locales.
The response to the film by critics was received generally positively with many critics believing that the film was under-rated at the time of release. American film critic Roger Ebert
, on reviewing the film on December 30, 1971, gave it a positive review. He described the film as having a "premise that has a beautiful simplicity to it" despite having numerous twists and turns that resembles typical heist films, yet described it as a "slick and breakneck caper movie that runs like a well-oiled thrill".
He praised the performance of Beatty, describing him as "the best con man in movies, certainly since Clark Gable
died. He is filled with deals, angles, things he has to pull you over in a corner to whisper. He can make you rich tomorrow, and himself, too, one of these days. And he has an unusual kind narcissism
— unusual for an actor. He isn't narcissistic about himself, but about his style; he's in love with conning people". Ebert approved of his on-screen chemistry and unique relationship with Goldie Hawn describing them as "weirdly interesting together" and the way they successfully moved together and interacted throughout the film. He also approved in the dynamic nature of the script and directing by Robert Brooks stating that "Brooks never stops to explain anything, never lingers over a plot, never bores us with lectures and explanations. Instead, all his characters plunge ahead, obsessed with greed."
A Channel 4
review of the film in the UK gave it 4/5, who, like Ebert, noted the pace of the directing and script by Brooks, describing it as "cutting more rapidly than usual, he kept the action moving fairly entertainingly for most of the movie, with includes a long and spectacular car chase". However, unlike Ebert, critic Christopher Null
believed the following of the film tired after the first hour, remarking that, "Beatty and Hawn carry this fun little heist/comedy picture for the first hour, but then the whole affair gets a little tiring". He did, however, rate the film 3.5/5.
Warren Beatty
Warren Beatty born March 30, 1937) is an American actor, producer, screenwriter and director. He has received a total of fourteen Academy Award nominations, winning one for Best Director in 1982. He has also won four Golden Globe Awards including the Cecil B. DeMille Award.-Early life and...
and Goldie Hawn
Goldie Hawn
Goldie Jeanne Hawn is an American actress, film director, producer, and occasional singer. Hawn is known for her roles in Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In, Private Benjamin, Foul Play, Overboard, Bird on a Wire, Death Becomes Her, The First Wives Club, and Cactus Flower, for which she won the 1969...
, and distributed by Columbia Pictures
Columbia Pictures
Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc. is an American film production and distribution company. Columbia Pictures now forms part of the Columbia TriStar Motion Picture Group, owned by Sony Pictures Entertainment, a subsidiary of the Japanese conglomerate Sony. It is one of the leading film companies...
. The movie was written and directed by Richard Brooks
Richard Brooks
Richard Brooks was an American screenwriter, film director, novelist and occasional film producer.-Early life and career:...
and produced by M.J. Frankovich. The supporting cast includes Gert Fröbe
Gert Fröbe
Karl Gerhart Fröbe, better known as Gert Fröbe was a German actor who starred in many films, including the James Bond film Goldfinger as Auric Goldfinger, The Threepenny Opera as Peachum, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang as Baron Bomburst, and in Der Räuber Hotzenplotz as Hotzenplotz.-Life:Born in...
, Robert Webber
Robert Webber
Robert L. Webber was an American actor who starred as Juror #12 in the 1957 film 12 Angry Men.Webber was born in Santa Ana, California, the son of Alice and Robert Webber, who was a merchant seaman. He was a U.S. Marine during World War II serving on Guam and Okinawa...
and Scott Brady
Scott Brady
Scott Brady was an American film and television actor.Born as Gerard Kenneth Tierney, he was the younger brother of fellow actor Lawrence Tierney. Brady served in the Navy during World War II, where he was a boxing champ...
. The film was partly shot in Hamburg
Hamburg
-History:The first historic name for the city was, according to Claudius Ptolemy's reports, Treva.But the city takes its modern name, Hamburg, from the first permanent building on the site, a castle whose construction was ordered by the Emperor Charlemagne in AD 808...
, Germany, which forms the primary location of the film.
The film's title appears in the opening credits only in the form of a giant character, as would be used in a sign, being transported by a crane
Crane (machine)
A crane is a type of machine, generally equipped with a hoist, wire ropes or chains, and sheaves, that can be used both to lift and lower materials and to move them horizontally. It uses one or more simple machines to create mechanical advantage and thus move loads beyond the normal capability of...
.
Plot
Set in HamburgHamburg
-History:The first historic name for the city was, according to Claudius Ptolemy's reports, Treva.But the city takes its modern name, Hamburg, from the first permanent building on the site, a castle whose construction was ordered by the Emperor Charlemagne in AD 808...
, West Germany, several criminals use safe deposit box
Safe deposit box
A safe deposit box or wrongly referred to as a safety deposit box is an individually-secured container, usually held within a larger safe or bank vault. Safe deposit boxes are generally located in banks, post offices or other institutions...
es in a German bank to store large amounts of illicit cash. These include a Las Vegas
Las Vegas, Nevada
Las Vegas is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Nevada and is also the county seat of Clark County, Nevada. Las Vegas is an internationally renowned major resort city for gambling, shopping, and fine dining. The city bills itself as The Entertainment Capital of the World, and is famous...
mobster as well as a ruthless drug smuggler known as the Candy Man and a crooked U.S. Army sergeant and his partner, who conspire on a big heroin and LSD
LSD
Lysergic acid diethylamide, abbreviated LSD or LSD-25, also known as lysergide and colloquially as acid, is a semisynthetic psychedelic drug of the ergoline family, well known for its psychological effects which can include altered thinking processes, closed and open eye visuals, synaesthesia, an...
smuggling score. Joe Collins (Beatty), an American bank security consultant, has been spying on them and makes mysterious preparations to steal their money with the help of Dawn Divine (Hawn), a hooker with a heart of gold
Hooker with a heart of gold
The hooker with a heart of gold is a stock character in which a "fallen woman", usually a prostitute, is a kindly and internally wholesome person.-Characteristics:...
.
Joe has Dawn phone in a bomb threat to the bank president, Mr. Kessel, to create a diversion. Joe locks himself inside the bank vault with a gold bar normally displayed in the lobby to supposedly save it. The bank is closed and evacuated while Joe uses duplicate keys to empty the criminals' three safe deposit boxes into to Dawn's box. (It is implied that Joe had secretly copied the criminals' keys while they were with Dawn.) Despite the fact that Kessel insists on burning through the wall to rescue Joe instead of waiting for the time lock to open, Joe succeeds in the heist and is hailed as a hero for "preventing" the robbery of the gold bar.
The next day, the criminals each discover that their boxes are empty and they cannot complete their schemes or go to the police. The Las Vegas mobster flees the country while the others search Dawn Divine's apartment—as she was their common link—and find clues that connect her to Joe. But Joe is tipped off and hurriedly sends Dawn to the train station with a suitcase packed with her take—$765,000—promising to meet her later.
Dawn gives the Sarge's partner the slip at the train station while the Candy Man and the Sarge chase Joe across the rail yard and through the Elbe Tunnel. Joe escapes on a car carrier truck, lugging his suitcase, but the Candy Man and the Sarge follow and catch up in the morning at a frozen lake, where the Candy Man crashes a car through the ice and drowns.
Joe escapes again by hopping a train, but during the night the Sarge catches up to him—only to find that Joe's suitcase contains nothing but a bottle of champagne and wads of newspaper. They conclude that Dawn double-crossed Joe by repacking the suitcases while he was getting the car, and they plan to go after her together. But, on drinking the champagne, the Sarge instantly goes into violent convulsions and falls down dead. The bottle was one of three that the Candy Man had filled with a solution of concentrated LSD to sneak them through customs
Customs
Customs is an authority or agency in a country responsible for collecting and safeguarding customs duties and for controlling the flow of goods including animals, transports, personal effects and hazardous items in and out of a country...
earlier in the film.
An epilog shows Dawn in a sunny climate in the USA, driving a gleaming new yellow Corvette, and then cuddling in bed with an unseen someone. Joe's bomber jacket hangs on the coat rack as she explains that she was certain the criminals wouldn't kill him and leave themselves with no way to get the money.
Cast
- Warren BeattyWarren BeattyWarren Beatty born March 30, 1937) is an American actor, producer, screenwriter and director. He has received a total of fourteen Academy Award nominations, winning one for Best Director in 1982. He has also won four Golden Globe Awards including the Cecil B. DeMille Award.-Early life and...
as Joe Collins - Goldie HawnGoldie HawnGoldie Jeanne Hawn is an American actress, film director, producer, and occasional singer. Hawn is known for her roles in Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In, Private Benjamin, Foul Play, Overboard, Bird on a Wire, Death Becomes Her, The First Wives Club, and Cactus Flower, for which she won the 1969...
as Dawn Divine - Gert FröbeGert FröbeKarl Gerhart Fröbe, better known as Gert Fröbe was a German actor who starred in many films, including the James Bond film Goldfinger as Auric Goldfinger, The Threepenny Opera as Peachum, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang as Baron Bomburst, and in Der Räuber Hotzenplotz as Hotzenplotz.-Life:Born in...
as Mr. Kessel - Robert WebberRobert WebberRobert L. Webber was an American actor who starred as Juror #12 in the 1957 film 12 Angry Men.Webber was born in Santa Ana, California, the son of Alice and Robert Webber, who was a merchant seaman. He was a U.S. Marine during World War II serving on Guam and Okinawa...
as Attorney - Scott BradyScott BradyScott Brady was an American film and television actor.Born as Gerard Kenneth Tierney, he was the younger brother of fellow actor Lawrence Tierney. Brady served in the Navy during World War II, where he was a boxing champ...
as Sarge - Arthur Brauss as Candy Man
- Robert Stiles as Major
- Wolfgang KielingWolfgang KielingWolfgang Kieling was a German actor. In films since childhood in his native Germany, Kieling also occasionally appeared in English-language films, most notably in Alfred Hitchcock's Torn Curtain , where he played an East German agent brutally slain by Paul Newman...
as Granich - Bob HerronBob HerronBob Herron is a Democratic member of the Alaska House of Representatives, representing the 38th District since 2008. Before the beginning of the 26th Legislature in January 2008 Representative Herron, along with Democrats Rep. Reggie Joule and Rep. Bryce Edgmon, began caucusing with the Republicans...
as Bodyguard (as Robert Herron) - Christiane Maybach as Helga
- Hans Hutter as Karl
- Monica Stender as Berta
- Horst Hesslein as Bruno
- Wolfgang Kuhlman as Furcoat
- Klaus Schichan as Knifeman
Soundtrack
The soundtrack to the filmDollar$ (soundtrack)
Dollar$ is the soundtrack album to the 1971 Richard Brooks movie of the same name, variously known as $, Dollars, Dollar$ or The Heist, starring Warren Beatty and Goldie Hawn.-History:...
was composed by Quincy Jones
Quincy Jones
Quincy Delightt Jones, Jr. is an American record producer and musician. A conductor, musical arranger, film composer, television producer, and trumpeter. His career spans five decades in the entertainment industry and a record 79 Grammy Award nominations, 27 Grammys, including a Grammy Legend...
, with performances by Little Richard
Little Richard
Richard Wayne Penniman , known by the stage name Little Richard, is an American singer, songwriter, musician, recording artist, and actor, considered key in the transition from rhythm and blues to rock and roll in the 1950s. He was also the first artist to put the funk in the rock and roll beat and...
, Roberta Flack
Roberta Flack
Roberta Flack is an American singer, songwriter, and musician who is notable for jazz, soul, R&B, and folk music...
and Doug Kershaw
Doug Kershaw
Doug Kershaw, born January 24, 1936, is an American fiddle player, singer and songwriter from Louisiana. Active since 1949, Kershaw has recorded fifteen albums and charted on the Hot Country Songs charts.- Early life :...
, in addition to featuring the Don Elliot Voices throughout the score.
Filming
Hamburg
-History:The first historic name for the city was, according to Claudius Ptolemy's reports, Treva.But the city takes its modern name, Hamburg, from the first permanent building on the site, a castle whose construction was ordered by the Emperor Charlemagne in AD 808...
, West Germany in January and February 1971. Other filming locations included Malibu, California and Sweden.
The building depicted as the exterior of the bank was really the Kunsthalle
Kunsthalle Hamburg
The Hamburger Kunsthalle is an art museum in Hamburg, Germany. The art museum focuses on painting in Hamburg in the 14th century, paintings by Dutch and Flemish artists of the 16th and 17th centuries, French and German paintings of the 19th century, modern, and contemporary art...
, Hamburg
Hamburg
-History:The first historic name for the city was, according to Claudius Ptolemy's reports, Treva.But the city takes its modern name, Hamburg, from the first permanent building on the site, a castle whose construction was ordered by the Emperor Charlemagne in AD 808...
's principal museum of art. The route followed in the chase scenes realistically takes the viewer through many of the city's unique locales.
Release and reception
The premiere of the film was on December 15, 1971 and it was released across cinema in the United States on December 17, 1971. It was released in Austria and West Germany on February 17, 1972, in Denmark on March 10, and in Sweden on March 27, 1972Roger Ebert
Roger Joseph Ebert is an American film critic and screenwriter. He is the first film critic to win a Pulitzer Prize for Criticism.Ebert is known for his film review column and for the television programs Sneak Previews, At the Movies with Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert, and Siskel and Ebert and The...
, on reviewing the film on December 30, 1971, gave it a positive review. He described the film as having a "premise that has a beautiful simplicity to it" despite having numerous twists and turns that resembles typical heist films, yet described it as a "slick and breakneck caper movie that runs like a well-oiled thrill".
He praised the performance of Beatty, describing him as "the best con man in movies, certainly since Clark Gable
Clark Gable
William Clark Gable , known as Clark Gable, was an American film actor most famous for his role as Rhett Butler in the 1939 Civil War epic film Gone with the Wind, in which he starred with Vivien Leigh...
died. He is filled with deals, angles, things he has to pull you over in a corner to whisper. He can make you rich tomorrow, and himself, too, one of these days. And he has an unusual kind narcissism
Narcissism
Narcissism is a term with a wide range of meanings, depending on whether it is used to describe a central concept of psychoanalytic theory, a mental illness, a social or cultural problem, or simply a personality trait...
— unusual for an actor. He isn't narcissistic about himself, but about his style; he's in love with conning people". Ebert approved of his on-screen chemistry and unique relationship with Goldie Hawn describing them as "weirdly interesting together" and the way they successfully moved together and interacted throughout the film. He also approved in the dynamic nature of the script and directing by Robert Brooks stating that "Brooks never stops to explain anything, never lingers over a plot, never bores us with lectures and explanations. Instead, all his characters plunge ahead, obsessed with greed."
A Channel 4
Channel 4
Channel 4 is a British public-service television broadcaster which began working on 2 November 1982. Although largely commercially self-funded, it is ultimately publicly owned; originally a subsidiary of the Independent Broadcasting Authority , the station is now owned and operated by the Channel...
review of the film in the UK gave it 4/5, who, like Ebert, noted the pace of the directing and script by Brooks, describing it as "cutting more rapidly than usual, he kept the action moving fairly entertainingly for most of the movie, with includes a long and spectacular car chase". However, unlike Ebert, critic Christopher Null
Christopher Null
Christopher Null is a film critic, columnist and former blogger for Yahoo! Tech, editor of Drinkhacker.com, and is the founder and editor in chief of Filmcritic.com.-Publications:...
believed the following of the film tired after the first hour, remarking that, "Beatty and Hawn carry this fun little heist/comedy picture for the first hour, but then the whole affair gets a little tiring". He did, however, rate the film 3.5/5.