The Hot Rock (film)

The Hot Rock
Directed by	Peter Yates
Produced by	Hal Landers Bobby Roberts
Screenplay by	William Goldman
Based on	novel by Donald E. Westlake
Starring	Robert Redford George Segal Ron Leibman Moses Gunn Zero Mostel
Music by	Quincy Jones
Cinematography	Edward R. Brown
Editing by	Fred W. Berger Frank P. Keller
Distributed by	Twentieth Century-Fox
Release date(s)	January 26, 1972 (1972-01-26)
Running time	105 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English
Box office	$3.5 million (US rental)

The Hot Rock is a 1972 comic caper film directed by Peter Yates from a screenplay by William Goldman, based on Donald E. Westlake's novel of the same name, which introduced his long-running John Dortmunder character. The film stars Robert Redford, George Segal and Moses Gunn.

Plot

After Dortmunder (Redford) is released from his latest stint in prison, he is approached by his brother-in-law, Andy Kelp (Segal), about another job. Dr. Amusa (Gunn) seeks a valuable gem in a Brooklyn museum that is of great significance to his people in his country in Africa, stolen during colonial times and then re-stolen by various African nations on multiple occasions since. Kelp and Dortmunder are joined by driver Stan Murch (Ron Leibman) and explosives expert Allan Greenberg (Paul Sand) and concoct an elaborate plan for stealing the gem from a museum in Brooklyn. Although the plan (and each subsequent plan) basically works, something always seems to go awry, and the quartet has to steal the diamond again and again.

First off, the diamond is swallowed by Greenberg when he alone gets caught by the police during the initial heist. After Greenberg tells his partners where he hid the rock in the police precinct jail (after bodily disposing it), the quartet attempt another heist on the precinct. Although the plan works, the rock is nowhere to be found. It is later discovered that Greenberg's father Abe (Zero Mostel), a dishonest lawyer who bailed his son out of jail, was the only other person who knew where it was.

After a series of bluffs, Abe Greenberg reveals that he put the diamond in his safe deposit box and has made his own deal to sell the gem to Dr. Amusa, which will leave Dortmunder's quartet with nothing. Dr. Amusa fires Dortmunder for his incompetence. However, with the help of a hypnotist, Dortmunder is able to gain access to Abe's safe deposit box and retrieve the gem just after the bank opens in the morning. As Dortmunder exits the bank, Abe and Dr. Amusa arrive at the bank but do not see him in the crowd. Dortmunder climbs into a car where the others are waiting and a rousing cheer erupts as they drive off.

Production

The opening scene of the movie, depicting a conversation between Dortmunder and the warden upon Dortmunder's release, is based on a scene edited out of Goldman's screenplay for Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. The origin of the scene was a real discussion between Butch Cassidy and the governor of Wyoming when Cassidy was released from prison, which Goldman uncovered when he was researching the prior screenplay.

One scene depicts the gang flying by helicopter through Manhattan about 64 minutes into the film to break into a police station. During this footage, the helicopter flies by the World Trade Center. The south tower was still under construction when this film was shot.

This film includes the first screen appearance of the actor and director Christopher Guest, in a small part as a police officer.

The music for the film was composed by Quincy Jones.

Four more of the Donald E. Westlake Dortmunder series have been filmed (with the character renamed in most instances), beginning with Bank Shot (1974) starring George C. Scott, and followed by Jimmy the Kid (1982) starring Paul LeMat (followed by a 1999 German remake); Why Me? (1990) starring Christopher Lambert; and What's the Worst That Could Happen? (2001) starring Martin Lawrence.

External links

• The Hot Rock at the Internet Movie Database
• The Hot Rock at AllRovi