The Swiss Conspiracy (1976)

User Rating:

4.9/10   

Director:

Jack Arnold

Writers:

Norman Klenman (screenplay)
Norman Klenman (story)

Release Date:

September 1977 (USA)

Genre:

Crime | Drama

Tagline:

Dirty Money, Dirty Secrets...

Plot:

When a Swiss bank finds that the confidentiality of some of its more vulnerable customers has been compromised it calls in an American investigator...

Plot Keywords:

Independent Film

Cast

David Janssen	...	David Christopher
Senta Berger	...	Denise Abbott
John Ireland	...	Dwight McGowan
John Saxon	...	Robert Hayes
Ray Milland	...	Johann Hurtil
Elke Sommer	...	Rita Jensen
Anton Diffring	...	Franz Benninger
Arthur Brauss	...	Kosta
Inigo Gallo	...	Captain Frey
Curt Lowens	...	Korsak, Hit Man
David Hess	...	Sando, Hit Man
Hans-Joerg Bahl	...	Sgt. Schwand (as Hans-Jorg Bahl)
Sheila Ruskin	...	Corinne
Irmgard Först	...	Florelle

Also Known As:

Per Saldo Mord (West Germany)

Runtime:

89 min

Country:

USA | West Germany

Language:

English | German

Color:

Color

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

UK:15 (re-rating) (1985) | UK:A (original rating) | Iceland:16 | Finland:K-16 | USA:PG

Filming Locations:

Zürich, Kanton Zürich, Switzerland

Company:

Bavaria Atelier

Quotes:

Denise Abbott: I'll change into something less comfortable.

Movie Connections:

Featured in Dusk to Dawn Drive-In Trash-o-Rama Show Vol. 1 (1996) (V)

Looks like something you'd see on European TV

David Janssen is an ex-U.S. treasury agent who finds himself involved in "The Swiss Conspiracy," a 1976 film that boasts a large array of old stars and actors: John Ireland, Ray Milland, Elke Sommer, John Saxon and Curt Lowens, plus the beautiful Senta Berger and a European cast. Janssen is David Christopher, who is asked to help a Swiss bank whose clients are being blackmailed with exposure of their numbered accounts. The stakes get higher when two of the victims are killed.

Words fail me but I'll go on anyway. First of all, this movie looks like it was transferred to DVD illegally - it even skips at one point with Janssen mouthing non-existent dialogue. The quality of the film is very grainy, and it looks like the movie was cut, too.

The film was made 5 years before David Janssen died, and he looks like he's going to succumb either during the film or the day after it wraps. If there was ever a tired, worn out actor, he's it. Ray Milland also looks to be at death's door. Did Bela Lugosi's makeup man do the makeup for this, or did they just go straight to a mortician? John Saxon turns in one of the worst performances I've ever seen, and that's saying something - I've seen Sonny Tufts in movies. An embarrassment of a New York accent to go with an awful performance.

The story isn't bad but by the time the movie is over, you're past caring. The scenery is gorgeous, however. There is one hilarious moment. One of the characters falls off of a huge cliff. Well, obviously, they used a dummy. When it hit the ground it bounced into the air - WAY into the air before landing someplace else. What I like best is that they left it in the movie. It made it almost worth watching.

Possibly this was made for television though for what country, I don't know. Maybe they dubbed it and it was shown in Europe. It really looks made on the cheap and like these actors worked for lunch and a cot.