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  • sol121831 October 2005
    (Some Spoilers) Dopey crime caper set in Bunos Aires Argentina with a bunch of singing crooks led by world renowned criminologist and author Ross Simpson, Rossano Brzaai.

    Frustated with his pet project, trying to have the perfect crime committed since the crooks he's hires to do it are nothing but a bunch of lame brains and butterfingers. Ross still thinks that the perfect crime can be committed if only those who are committing it have at least some gray matter between their ears.

    Not participating in any of the crimes that he organizes Ross isn't really interested in the money but the fact of him being able and smart enough in pulling it, the perfect crime, off. Ross' mom gives him an idea by telling her not so bright son to at least make his hard work worth it by taking the money instead of letting the crooks take it which they never have the brains or smarts to do.

    It just happens that Ross, who a professor at a local Rome college, is given a one year vacation, with pay, and an all-expenses paid to travel to Buenos Aires Argentina to have the time to write his new book. Ross is also given from the class that he's teaching criminology sexy Leticia, Ann Margret,as an assistant. As soon as Ross arrives in Buenos Aires he concocts a plan to pull off the greatest crime in criminal history and this time he'll, not the crooks that he employs, end up taking all the marbles, $10,000,000.00 in jewelry.

    Overly plotted robbery of Buenos Aires famous Teatro Colon Opera house with a bunch of crooks learning to sing the songs,and lines, of the opera La Travita. As you watch the movie it becomes evident that all the work in learning to sing opera music was all for nothing, or just comedy relief. Since they just rob the 2,580 opera fans of their jewelry with out as much as singing a note or being on the stage.

    Back at his villa Ross runs into trouble with Leticla who suspects him of cheating on her when she sees him with the beautiful opera star of La Traviata,who's also involved in the robbery, and thinking that he's having an affair with her. The jealous Leticla almost wrecks the master plan, that Ross plans to put into motion, by throwing a fit and almost killing him with a kitchen full of plates and dishes that has him fleeing or his life. Meanwhile Back at the opera house the singing crooks are setting up the plan to put the entire audience to sleep just like they did to the audience watching the movie.

    Ross has the band of crooks that he crossed back in Italy in his previous "perfect crime", who traveled to Argintina to get even with him, put on the heist as well in order to keep them, like Leticla, from killing him. In the end Ross pulls it off, the crime of the century,but ends up stiffing both the singing crooks and the crooks who he stiffed earlier in the movie. As he takes off with the millions in jewelry and the beautiful Leticla to his secret hiding place and also villa in Switzerland. The only hitch in Ross' "perfect crime" was when the overjoyed Leticla seeing Ross, come back home to her in his villa in Switzerland, happily swings open the door at his bird house where all of his expensive parrots and exotic birds end up flying free.

    The movie "Criminal affair", or what it's sometimes called in Europe "Criminal Symphony" or "Seven men with one Brain", is only worth watching for the fact that Ann Margret is in it and has a lot of trouble keeping her clothes on all throughout the movie. Rozanno Brazzi tries to do an Orson Wells by writing directing and staring in the movie "Criminal Affair" but it won't be mistaken by anyone watching it for "Citizen Kane".
  • Warning: Spoilers
    The key to Rossano Brazzi's perfect-heist plan in "Criminal Affair" is sleeping gas, but he needn't have gone to all that trouble - he might have shown his intended victims this movie itself, and it would surely have the same effect - possibly even quicker! This dismal, dull "comedy" is set in Argentina but spends a lot of its time in dingy underground tunnels. Ann Margret has a thankless part, but she is very provocative and sexy; Helene Chanel also does a knockout strip dance. If those two had more screen time and the misfit waste-of-screen-space crooks that Brazzi assembles had less, "Criminal Affair" might have been a more bearable affair. Now it's mostly a chore. 0.5 out of 4 stars.
  • Warning: Spoilers
    I give this a citation as one of the most completely unfunny movies of the 1960's, a total waste of space on film as well as the most hideous piece of dreck in the career of the luscious Ann-Margret. What she is doing in this film is beyond me other than to boost the ego of the aging Rossano Brazzi. Perhaps a free trip to Europe might have inspired her, but that also meant adding this to her credits. It's a non-sensical farce about mastermind criminal Brazzi going to Buenos Aires with her as his assistant to complete the caper of his career. If I want a pretty travelogue, I'll watch a traveling. But when I watch a comedy, I expect some laughs. The only one, which came reluctantly, came from the actress playing Brazzi s mother who claims, "Life is like sex. You don't write about it. You do it." Pretty vile considering it came from a woman in her late 70's/early 80's. Skip this one. It isn't worth the cost of the cheap film it was printed on.
  • Thismovie is a mess and is of its time, but man, what a hoot and what an enjoyable mess. They made it in 1968 and every costume, color, hair design and boot SCREAMS 1968. Rossano Brazzi, the male star of SOUTH PACIFIC supposedly took some of his hit movie money and put it into this crime caper/sex comedy - plus he stars in it, wrote it, directed it and produced it. Oh silly Rossano - the plot is absolutely ludicrous - a high class thief gathers a bunch of crooks who must learn the entire opera of La Traviata so that they can rob all the patrons of opening night performance of La Traviata - all the women will be wearing their best jewels, etc. The group of thieves he gathers are like a low-rent Ocean's 11 - there's the fat guy, the effeminate guy, the loud guy, the muscle, etc. BUT ---- the most amazing thing this movie has is a very young Ann Margret wearing the skimpiest of outfits and she is (shall we say) wow-wee-wow. But seriously this movie has everything - fashion shoots, explosions, car chases, bad comedy bits, sex, awful Eurotrash fashions of the day, sexist jokes, you name it, it has it!!! For those who like their EuroCheese - this baby'for you.