Poseidon-3 Review of Jack of Diamonds

Jack of Diamonds (1967)

A Jack and an Ace don't exactly equal a winning hand, but it's not bad.

[22 August 2006]

The makings of a classic, suspenseful heist film are in place here, but the film only partly succeeds. Hamilton plays the title character, a wall-climbing, scuba-diving burglar who specializes in nabbing priceless baubles and who was trained by a master, the Ace of Diamonds (Cotten.) Cotten's old pal Evans, along with Evans' step-daughter Laforet, convinces Hamilton to go in on a practically impossible job, removing a prized necklace and brooch from a virtually impregnable stronghold (after first obtaining a vault combination from the middle of Paris police headquarters!) The foursome plots and trains and plans until the big day arrives while Preiss closes in on them as fast as he can. Hamilton is quite fit and manages to be fairly convincing in his somewhat larger-than-life role. Cotten is less believable, though his character is in retirement, which helps. Evans is relatively amusing in his controlling characterization. Laforet is beautiful and surprisingly decent in a role that is substantially window-dressing. Some of the set pieces are tiresome (such as Hamilton's and Laforet's meet--cute on the ski slopes) but the big heist itself is pretty suspenseful and well-handled. Hamilton also has a neat home complete with a trapeze, an indoor pool and a secret compartment for jewel cutting. Three glamorous ladies appear as themselves (!) in utterly pointless cameos that do little to enhance the film except that they add a bit of feminine attractiveness (which Laforet handles rather nicely anyway.) Of the trio of Palmer, Baker and Gabor, only Gabor gets to say anything remotely interesting and even her presence is limited. (At this point, her negligible film career was already waning and she was basically doing guest shots, yet she is portrayed as a busy, successful actress who has a 6:00 call!) One thing that could divide a lot of viewers is the overbearing and exceedingly whimsical music score which features voices doo-dooing and whee-ing away continually. Some may get the humor, others will be lying on the floor with blood trickling out of their ears. It's a fanciful, stylish, but also rather undistinguished tale without a lot to recommend it unless one is a fan of Hamilton or of the genre in particular. The ground has been covered many times before and after and often in a better way.