I keep a list on Letterboxd of what I call my “Saturday morning” movies, so named because I’m a much earlier riser than my wife on the weekends. My criteria for these movies is somewhat loose, but in general they’re crime or heist movies shot on location in Europe in the 1970s. The vibe is this: some recognizable actors went somewhere nice and made a movie.
The criteria are flexible. Harry in Your Pocket was shot in the Pacific Northwest; Gold in apartheid South Africa. Target: Harry was made (for American television, no less) in 1969, and then re-edited with superfluous nudity in 1979. The Day of the Jackal probably shouldn’t be on the list at al–it’s far too well made–but it does a fabulous job of evoking a place and time.
That brings me to Silver Bears, a little-seen Michael Caine vehicle from 1978, which meets every criteria perfectly. Our actors are in Las Vegas, Switzerland (mainly Lugano), Italy, the United Kingdom, and Morocco (standing in for Iran). Our actors include Caine, Louis Jourdan, Cybill Shepherd, Stéphane Audran, David Warner, Tom Smothers, Jay Leno (before he made it big), Joss Ackland, and Charles Gray.