Name these 2 obscure movies!
February 6, 2005 10:02 AM Subscribe
The identity of 2 obscure movies I once saw has been driving me crazy. The fact that they were bad is making me even more nuts. Plot descriptions inside; maybe someone can help identify them...
The first one is probably from the 1960's. It involves a "master thief" who keeps a priceless jewel at his estate and has it protected by all sorts of elaborate booby-traps. He invites other great thieves from around the world to try to steal it. They all try and fail (and die) except one. I only clearly remember the end. The jewel is kept in a room with a black-and-white checkerboard floor, which is mined and observed over CCTV. The last remaining thief dons a black-and-white body suit to blend in with the floor and has a small hald-held mine detector. He slowly crawls along the floor, sweeping for mines as he goes. The master thief sees him on the monitor at the last minute because the squares on his outfit don't line up with the checkboard pattern on the floor. I can't remember if the thief gets away.
The second is more modern, probably early 90's. It involves a suburban couple who come to the (unnamed) big city for a day. The man has a job interview and his wife is tagging along for a day of shopping and salon. The guy misses his interview by going to the wrong place in a really bad part of town. Everything closes up at 6:00, including the parking lot where he left his car, and everyone disappears. His wife shows up in a cab to meet him, but sends the cab away before she knows the car is locked up. They try to get another cab to some but none will go to that part of town. No one else is around and they walk for blocks and blocks and see no one. Eventually they run afoul of some hoodlums and have to hide from them. I think the guy even kills one of them. They make it to morning, and during the day, the neighborhood is back to being a bustling area with lots of people.
Any ideas?
The first one is probably from the 1960's. It involves a "master thief" who keeps a priceless jewel at his estate and has it protected by all sorts of elaborate booby-traps. He invites other great thieves from around the world to try to steal it. They all try and fail (and die) except one. I only clearly remember the end. The jewel is kept in a room with a black-and-white checkerboard floor, which is mined and observed over CCTV. The last remaining thief dons a black-and-white body suit to blend in with the floor and has a small hald-held mine detector. He slowly crawls along the floor, sweeping for mines as he goes. The master thief sees him on the monitor at the last minute because the squares on his outfit don't line up with the checkboard pattern on the floor. I can't remember if the thief gets away.
The second is more modern, probably early 90's. It involves a suburban couple who come to the (unnamed) big city for a day. The man has a job interview and his wife is tagging along for a day of shopping and salon. The guy misses his interview by going to the wrong place in a really bad part of town. Everything closes up at 6:00, including the parking lot where he left his car, and everyone disappears. His wife shows up in a cab to meet him, but sends the cab away before she knows the car is locked up. They try to get another cab to some but none will go to that part of town. No one else is around and they walk for blocks and blocks and see no one. Eventually they run afoul of some hoodlums and have to hide from them. I think the guy even kills one of them. They make it to morning, and during the day, the neighborhood is back to being a bustling area with lots of people.
Any ideas?
...I don't think Jack Lemmon or Steve Martin had to kill anyone tho' : ) The movie the major's describing sounds, IMO, decidely darker than The Out-of-Towners.
posted by bachelor#3 at 10:24 AM on February 6, 2005
posted by bachelor#3 at 10:24 AM on February 6, 2005
Response by poster: Thanks Krrrlson, but that's not it. This was definitely not a comedy (though unintentionally funny due to bad performances, as I recall). It was in the "suspenseful urban nightmare" genre.
posted by majorsteel at 10:24 AM on February 6, 2005
posted by majorsteel at 10:24 AM on February 6, 2005
As an aside, majorsteel, have you been trying to find out the name of these movies for some time now? Films descriptions #1 and #2 are practically identical to yours; either that, or this is one long-running "name that movie" meme.
posted by bachelor#3 at 10:35 AM on February 6, 2005
posted by bachelor#3 at 10:35 AM on February 6, 2005
Response by poster: Shalimar is it for Movie #1! And it's available at NetFlix -- hooray! I remember watching it on TV with my dad when I was probably 11 or 12. I credit it for my ongoing interest in the heist genre, but I could never figure out what it was. Thanks, elgilito!
posted by majorsteel at 10:38 AM on February 6, 2005
posted by majorsteel at 10:38 AM on February 6, 2005
Response by poster: bachelor#3: Wow, I totally forgot I had posted to MovieWeb! I now recall that I got an initial email from someone at that site but never heard anything after that. So, yes, this has been bugging me for a while, but only intermittently. Something triggered my memory about it this morning, so I made myself sit down and Ask Metafilter finally.
posted by majorsteel at 10:44 AM on February 6, 2005
posted by majorsteel at 10:44 AM on February 6, 2005
The second movie isn't Bonfire of the Vanities, is it?
posted by obloquy at 11:09 AM on February 6, 2005
posted by obloquy at 11:09 AM on February 6, 2005
Have you tried keyword searches at imdb? "Stranded" pulls up 67 films.
posted by mediareport at 11:25 AM on February 6, 2005
posted by mediareport at 11:25 AM on February 6, 2005
Heh, sorry - I never actually saw the Out-of-Towners and it sounded vaguely similar.
posted by Krrrlson at 11:34 AM on February 6, 2005
posted by Krrrlson at 11:34 AM on February 6, 2005
Response by poster: We have a winner for #2. Final Jeopardy it is. Thanks again, elgilito. I was off by a decade on both titles. Oh well.
I did search IMDB, but it was a while ago. I wonder when the current summary for that film was written. I remember searching for "big city" and "stranded" and other terms that are in that summary, but it came up empty.
Thanks again!
posted by majorsteel at 11:43 AM on February 6, 2005
I did search IMDB, but it was a while ago. I wonder when the current summary for that film was written. I remember searching for "big city" and "stranded" and other terms that are in that summary, but it came up empty.
Thanks again!
posted by majorsteel at 11:43 AM on February 6, 2005
FWIW, I've refreshed pages on IMDB that have had different reviews on them. Or maybe I'm losing it as it won't do it on the Final Jeopardy details.
Looks like a good movie though, in a late-night trashy way...
*scratches head*
posted by bdave at 8:44 PM on February 6, 2005
Looks like a good movie though, in a late-night trashy way...
*scratches head*
posted by bdave at 8:44 PM on February 6, 2005
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by Krrrlson at 10:20 AM on February 6, 2005