Hustle is a 1975 American neo-noir crime film directed by Robert Aldrich, and stars Burt Reynolds and Catherine Deneuve.
Hustle | |
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Theatrical release poster | |
Directed by | Robert Aldrich |
Produced by | Robert Aldrich |
Written by | Steve Shagan |
Starring | Burt Reynolds Catherine Deneuve |
Music by | Frank De Vol |
Cinematography | Joseph Biroc |
Edited by | Michael Luciano |
Distributed by | Paramount Pictures |
Release date | December 25, 1975 |
Running time | 120 minutes |
Country | United States |
Language | English |
Budget | $3.05 million |
Box office | $10,390,000 (rentals) 217,313 admissions (France) |
Screenplay
A group of field trip students and a teacher discover a woman's dead body at the beach. Two Los Angeles Police Department detectives, Phil Gaines and Louis Belgrave, are assigned to the homicide investigation. The case appears to be a suicide but things do not add up. The deceased, Gloria Hollinger, overdosed, yet the trail leads back to Leo Sellers, a wealthy and corrupt attorney. Gaines and Belgrave do not believe Gloria's death to be suicide based on information from Gaines' girlfriend, Nicole, a call girl. But they cannot close the case. Along the way, the detectives learn that Marty, Gloria's father and a headstrong veteran of the Korean War, did not believe the official report either and attempts to solve the case himself. He goes after Sellers and learns that Sellers was responsible for his daughter's death. Gaines and Belgrave track Marty to Sellers' mansion where they find Marty has just killed Sellers. Gaines stages it to look like self-defense, letting Marty off the hook for the crime. Gaines calls Nicole to reconcile, and they plan a trip to San Francisco. On his way to the airport, he stops in a convenience store and walks into the middle of an armed robbery. He trades fire with the assailant but is killed in the exchange. Belgrave goes to the airport terminal to inform Nicole, and without a word, she realizes that Gaines is gone.
- Burt Reynolds – Lieutenant Phil Gaines
- Catherine Deneuve – Nicole Britton
- Ben Johnson – Marty Hollinger
- Paul Winfield – Sergeant Louis Belgrave
- Eileen Brennan – Paula Hollinger
- Eddie Albert – Leo Sellers
- Ernest Borgnine – Santuro
- Colleen Brennan – Gloria Hollinger
- Catherine Bach – Peggy Summers
- Jack Carter – Herbie Dalitz
Robert Aldrich said Burt Reynolds brought him the script while they were filming Longest Yard together.
Aldrich said he would do the film if they could get Catherine Deneuve for the female lead, even though the part had been written for a woman. "I didn't think it worked that way," said Aldrich. "I think our middleclass mores just don't make it credible that a policeman have a love relationship with a prostitute. Because of some strange quirk in our backgrounds, the mass audience doesn't believe it. It's perfectly all right as long as she's not American. So Burt accepted this as a condition, and we put up our money and went to Paris, and waited on the great lady for a week, and she agreed to do the picture. "
Aldrich and Reynolds formed their own company to make the film, called Roburt. The original title was City of Angels. The title was then changed to Home Free.
Robert Aldrich later said he did not think Reynolds was as good in the film as he was in The Longest Yard.
The film was a commercial success. Produced on a budget of $3.05 million, it earned $10,390,000 in US theatrical rentals. Reynolds said: "I think it was a good film," "At least it was a love story, which I hadn't done in a long time. Catherine Deneuve and I were a case of one plus one makes three so that brought about some interest." The film received 67% rating on Rotten Tomatoes.
- List of American films of 1975