Stateline Motel is an Italian crime film shot in Montreal, featuring Fabio Testi and Eli Wallach as the criminals, and Bond girl Ursula Andress as the femme fatale, who throws a wrench into their plans.
After being released from a Canadian prison, where he was holed up for stealing a car, Floyd (played by Testi) is picked up by his partner Joe (Wallach), as the two petty criminals plan on robbing a bank before fleeing back over the border to America.
They manage to pull the job off, but Joe shoots a guy in the process.
So they split up, with plans of meeting back up in New England to split the loot.
However, on his way to the unattended border crossing, Floyd crashes his car, and ends up stuck in the Last Chance Motel, as he waits for his car to be repaired.
But things aren't exactly going smoothly.
Because after a news report airs, with CCTV footage of the robbery, a number of people in the town begin to suspect him of the crime, and want to cash in on the reward for turning him in...that is...if they can't manage to steal the jewels from him, for themselves.
Meanwhile, the wife of the motel owner (Andress) becomes infatuated with the dangerous allure of this mysterious man, and instigates an affair with him, in hopes he will whisk her away from her mundane life in this small border town.
But before he gets a chance to leave, the jewels mysteriously disappear from his room.
He thinks the promiscuous young woman has honey trapped him...but he can't be sure.
While he's trying to figure out who the culprit is...his partner Joe returns in an attempt to track him down.
Thinking he is trying to take the whole score for himself.
So a situation has developed where everyone is paranoid of everyone else, and trying to play each other, in one way or another.
Floyd thinks that if he and Joe work together, they can solve the mystery as to who actually stole the jewels, get them back, and make their escape over the border.
But Joe is suspicious, and thinks that Floyd is trying to make off with the jewels- and the motel owner's wife- for himself.
Now Floyd thinks their lives are at risk.
Believing that Joe is willing to kill them both, so that he can take the whole cache for himself.
So, thinking the motel owner's wife has the jewels- but won't give them to him unless he runs away with her- Floyd agrees to do so, after trying to distract Joe.
But everyone is way off.
As the whole thing ends up a comedy of errors, with a bit of a twist at the end, that leaves everybody a loser.
It seems like this film was shot in both English and Italian, dubbed for the Italian market, then redubbed in English for the American market...and poorly at that.
Because the audio is so out of sync with the video, that it's kind of distracting.
On top of that, none of the acting is very good.
And the twist is rather predictable.
So the whole thing comes off as rather bland.
4.5 out of 10.
