Silber, Banken und Ganoven (1977)

Silber, Banken und Ganoven: Directed by Ivan Passer. With Michael Caine, Cybill Shepherd, Louis Jourdan, Stéphane Audran. Financial wizard “Doc” Fletcher acquires a Swiss bank and a silver mine – alleged to be worth a billion dollars. As rivals close in from all sides, Doc must fight a complex struggle to keep hold of both the bank and the mine.

“u0026quot;Silver Bearsu0026quot; has something in common with the u0026quot;heistu0026quot; or u0026quot;caperu0026quot; movies which were popular in the sixties and seventies, but deals with financial fraud and dodgy deals on the money markets rather than an actual robbery. It stars Michael Caine, who also starred in u0026quot;The Italian Jobu0026quot;, one of the best-known caper movies. Here Caine plays u0026quot;Docu0026quot; Fletcher, a sort of financial troubleshooter for the Mafia. (Like most of Caineu0026#39;s characters, Doc is British; Caine has very rarely played an American in any of his films, u0026quot;The Cider House Rulesu0026quot; being one of the few exceptions). Doc is sent by his boss, Joe Fiore, to buy a Swiss bank through which the Mob will be able to launder their ill-gotten gains.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eThe plot is a complex one, involving not only the acquisition of the said bank (which turns out to be no more than a small office above a pizza parlour) but also an investment in an Iranian silver mine and various complicated financial transactions, not all of which are entirely above board. (The mine would explain the u0026quot;silveru0026quot; element of the title; the significance of the u0026quot;bearsu0026quot; element remains obscure, even if one understands the word in its financial rather than its zoological sense).u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eThe late seventies were perhaps not the most distinguished period of Caineu0026#39;s career. In the sixties and early seventies he had made some excellent films in Britain (u0026quot;Zuluu0026quot;, u0026quot;Alfieu0026quot;, u0026quot;The Battle of Britainu0026quot;, u0026quot;Get Carteru0026quot;), but he clearly felt that being a major star of the British cinema made him no more than a big fish in a small pond and he wanted to reinvent himself as a Hollywood star. Unfortunately, in his early Hollywood years he often seemed more like a small fish in a big pond and often found himself cast in some dreadful movies.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eIndeed, Caine himself has described three of the films which he made in 1978 and 1979, u0026quot;The Magusu0026quot;, u0026quot;The Swarmu0026quot; and u0026quot;Ashantiu0026quot;, as being his worst. (I have never seen u0026quot;The Magusu0026quot;, but would certainly agree with him about u0026quot;The Swarmu0026quot; and u0026quot;Ashantiu0026quot;, although I would argue that u0026quot;Blame it on Riou0026quot; from the mid-eighties also deserves a dishonourable mention as one of his least distinguished achievements).u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eu0026quot;Silver Bearsu0026quot; is never as bad as something like u0026quot;Ashantiu0026quot;, but few would count it among Caineu0026#39;s better films. Certainly, the star tries hard, playing Doc as a Cockney geezer reminiscent of Charlie Croker from u0026quot;The Italian Jobu0026quot;, but never makes him very likable. His leading lady Cybill Shepherd, who plays Docu0026#39;s love-interest Debbie, was also going through a difficult phase in her career at the time, trying to prove, often without much success, both to the world and to herself that she was something more than Peter Bogdanovichu0026#39;s girlfriend and muse. (Both Caine and Shepherd were to see their careers revive in the eighties; he began to find roles in better films like u0026quot;Hannah and Her Sistersu0026quot; and she successfully reinvented herself as a TV actress in u0026quot;Moonlightingu0026quot;).u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eThe film is sometimes described as a u0026quot;comedy thrilleru0026quot;, but I for one never found it either very comic or very thrilling. It lacks the action sequences which can make heist movies exciting, but it shares the main weakness of that particular genre, namely an unsavoury u0026quot;crime does payu0026quot; attitude. None of the main characters seem to have any moral scruples, but none of them end up paying for their sins, apart from one unlucky accountant who is chosen to serve a jail term, largely as a scapegoat for the sins of others. Despite the best efforts of Caine, Shepherd and some other well-known faces such as Louis Jourdan and Joss Ackland, u0026quot;Silver Bearsu0026quot; is little more than a tawdry movie about tawdry people. A piece of tarnished silver. 5/10”