11 Harrowhouse (1974)

Director: Aram Avakian

Starring: Charles Grodin, Candice Bergen, James Mason, Trevor Howard, John Gielgud, Helen Cherry, Peter Vaughan

More info: IMDb

Tagline: This is like no robbery you've ever imagined

Plot: A small time diamond merchant jumps at the chance to supervise the purchase and cutting of a large first class diamond. But when the diamond is stolen from him, he is blackmailed into pulling off a major heist at the Diamond Exchange, located at 11 Harrowhouse.

My rating: 7/10

Will I watch it again? Sure.

It beats me why there isn't a proper DVD of this because there should be because it's a neat little heist comedy. Grodin is his great deadpan self (few people can pull it off like him) and Bergen is delightful as his girlfriend. I would have liked more of her. She's adorable and smart, not to mention very easy on the eyes.


Gielgud makes a great stuck up asshole, Mason's character is quiet and unassuming and Howard gets too little screen time as the man who set the plan in motion. The job itself isn't all that plausible. It would be far too easy to pick it apart if you spent any time on it but that's not the point because the cast makes it work. It's light, bouncy and fun.