User reviews

Here's the prob. The book's a lot better. Paul Erdman invented the financial thriller with Billion Dollar Sure Thing and followed it up with this story. Inevitably, it's a 70s caper pic without the physical action. Not a great recipe but it works. The leads are OK. Michael Caine isn't given a lot to work with and Jay Leno shows he was right to take another direction. The supporting roles are much better filled. Joss Ackland and Charles Gray both deliver on cue and whoever plays Donald Luckman comes closer than anyone to the book. On the other hand, Cybil Shepherd's Debbie Luckman is nothing like the book. She's better! In the book, Debbie's a frustrated, embittered bitch. And not without reason but here, she's a suburban child escaping her boundaries but never breaking faith with Donald. Donald's going to be locked up and she's not about to abandon him. But Michael Caine's home is awfully close to the jail ...

The cast in "Silver Bears" is quite odd. On one hand, you have some very well respected actors such as Michael Caine, Louis Jourdan, Joss Acklund, David Warner and Martin Balsam. But you also have Tom Smothers and Jay Leno...and a very comedic performance by a young Cybill Shepherd! This mix manages to merge a serious crime drama with comedy...a strange mix to say the least.

When the movie begins, Doc Fletcher (Caine) heads to Switzerland to check up on his latest organized crime endeavor...as he's bought a Swiss bank from which to launder money. However, it turns out the $3,000,000 he spent for the bank gave him a tiny dump above a pizza parlor with only $900 in assets! Clearly, Doc is in trouble, as this is mob money. So, to cover this, he and his compatriots decide to cover the loss with other money from a scam involving Iranian silver. And, now they're able to at least pretend to have a working bank. To make the story kooky, Doc is saddled with a jerk of a mobster's idiot son (Leno) and an obnoxious and ditsy wife of a banker (Shepherd). But where this all goes is frankly impossible to predict...just see the movie.

To say that the plot is confusing is definitely an understatement. This is not a film you casually watch as you cook dinner or play with your laptop! You really need to pay attention to understand the scam and its many complications. This isn't a complaint...more an observation.

So is it any good? Well, yes and no. The film is very talky and tough to follow. Additionally, Shepherd's character is someone you'll either love or hate (I tended towards the latter)....as she's not exactly subtle nor believable...as well as being incredibly confusing and amoral. To me, this film could have been a lot funnier had it been a bit more subtle. And, if I want to see a Michael Caine film about scammers, I'd rather see "Dirty Rotten Scoundrels"...it's just funnier and more clever.

The story of financing and putting together this movie is probably even more remarkable than the intricacies of Oscar-winning scriptwriter Peter Stone's adaptation of Paul Erdman's 1974 'financial thriller' which brings together a once-in-a-lifetime international cast under the direction of Czech emigre Ivan Passer (who died recently, and ten years earlier had been considered the equal of Milos Forman) on picturesque locations that look suspiciously as if they were selected for their tax status as much as their visual attractiveness.

It's a good crime picture with a star-packed cast. The plot is very engaging and not much complicated but also a clever one, which is a big advantage because you never get bored while watching it. Ivan Passer who directed the movie was amongst the leading directors of the new wave in Czechoslovakia in the early 60s but this picture is entirely different. Anyway, it's good in its genre and definitely well acted with the required *twinkle* in the eye from Michael Caine. The locations are very attractive as well as music. It's a very pleasant movie to watch in the evening. I recommend it not only to Michael Caine fans.

This is an underrated gem, its a cracking film, good acting, stunning scenery, good music score, well directed and edited, and an excellent story.

This is supposed to be one of Michael Caine's lesser films, not as big as Zulu, the Harry Palmer trilogy or The Italian Job etc, but for me its just as good as those. It has a stellar cast, along with Caine is Louis Jordan, Joss Ackland, Martin Balsam, Cybill Shepherd, Stephane Audran, David Warner, Charles Gray, all excellent actors, even Jay Leno was Ok, even the supporting actors, all were good, so congratulations must go to the Director Ivan Passer for keeping them going as a team and with the pacing of the film. I wish more were made like this.

I haven't seen this movie in ages but I remember liking it a great deal. The plot is one of those twisty turny types thats no where near as clever as it think it is. The film is a mindless time killer but not in a bad way.

The real curiosity is the fact that it stars Jay Leno in what is actually the third largest part in the film. Leno is good in his role, certainly much better than you'd expect from one of the current kings of late night TV. Certainly had this film been made now Leno would be billed near the top instead of eighth or ninth in the cast list. If you're dying to be able to one up your friends in useless trivia and to be able to see a film that they probably haven;t seen, but might want to for the curiosity factor, give it a shot.

A Las Vegas mob boss (Martin Balsam) comes up with an ingenious way to launder money - buy a bank! He sends pal Doc Fletcher (Michael Caine) to Switzerland to buy a bank with the help of local contact Prince Gianfranco di Siracusa (Louis Jordan). Along for the ride is the kingpin's wayward son Albert (Jay Leno). Prince Siracusa has a deed for a bank (really a rundown apartment over a pizza parlor) and then things get complicated when his "cousins" (Stéphane Audran and David Warner) want Fletcher to buy in on their Iranian silver mine. Also figuring into this are a banking exec (Tom Smothers) and his ditzy wife (Cybill Shepherd). Ouch! Caine has been upfront about his taking roles for their locations (paid vacation!) and I can't think of any other reason he would have taken this. It is billed as a comedy-thriller, yet manages to never be funny or thrilling. You would think with such a cast that some sort of sparks would fly, but this nearly 2 hour flick is a bore. It doesn't help that the main plot twist doesn't kick in until 90 minutes in (even though you've guess it when it is introduced) and the tricks to swindle some buyers turns into an anti-THE STING. Lots of moments of people talking...and talking...and talking. It says something when the comic highlight is Caine accidentally dropping a breakfast egg in his lap. I lay it all firmly at the feet of director Ivan Passer, who thinks having such a capable cast can immediately pass for a top notch film. Definitely not the case. I'm sure Caine's wife thanks him though.

"Silver Bears" has something in common with the "heist" or "caper" movies which were popular in the sixties and seventies, but deals with financial fraud and dodgy deals on the money markets rather than an actual robbery. It stars Michael Caine, who also starred in "The Italian Job", one of the best-known caper movies. Here Caine plays "Doc" Fletcher, a sort of financial troubleshooter for the Mafia. (Like most of Caine's characters, Doc is British; Caine has very rarely played an American in any of his films, "The Cider House Rules" being one of the few exceptions). Doc is sent by his boss, Joe Fiore, to buy a Swiss bank through which the Mob will be able to launder their ill-gotten gains.

The plot is a complex one, involving not only the acquisition of the said bank (which turns out to be no more than a small office above a pizza parlour) but also an investment in an Iranian silver mine and various complicated financial transactions, not all of which are entirely above board. (The mine would explain the "silver" element of the title; the significance of the "bears" element remains obscure, even if one understands the word in its financial rather than its zoological sense).

The late seventies were perhaps not the most distinguished period of Caine's career. In the sixties and early seventies he had made some excellent films in Britain ("Zulu", "Alfie", "The Battle of Britain", "Get Carter"), but he clearly felt that being a major star of the British cinema made him no more than a big fish in a small pond and he wanted to reinvent himself as a Hollywood star. Unfortunately, in his early Hollywood years he often seemed more like a small fish in a big pond and often found himself cast in some dreadful movies.

Indeed, Caine himself has described three of the films which he made in 1978 and 1979, "The Magus", "The Swarm" and "Ashanti", as being his worst. (I have never seen "The Magus", but would certainly agree with him about "The Swarm" and "Ashanti", although I would argue that "Blame it on Rio" from the mid-eighties also deserves a dishonourable mention as one of his least distinguished achievements).

"Silver Bears" is never as bad as something like "Ashanti", but few would count it among Caine's better films. Certainly, the star tries hard, playing Doc as a Cockney geezer reminiscent of Charlie Croker from "The Italian Job", but never makes him very likable. His leading lady Cybill Shepherd, who plays Doc's love-interest Debbie, was also going through a difficult phase in her career at the time, trying to prove, often without much success, both to the world and to herself that she was something more than Peter Bogdanovich's girlfriend and muse. (Both Caine and Shepherd were to see their careers revive in the eighties; he began to find roles in better films like "Hannah and Her Sisters" and she successfully reinvented herself as a TV actress in "Moonlighting").

The film is sometimes described as a "comedy thriller", but I for one never found it either very comic or very thrilling. It lacks the action sequences which can make heist movies exciting, but it shares the main weakness of that particular genre, namely an unsavoury "crime does pay" attitude. None of the main characters seem to have any moral scruples, but none of them end up paying for their sins, apart from one unlucky accountant who is chosen to serve a jail term, largely as a scapegoat for the sins of others. Despite the best efforts of Caine, Shepherd and some other well-known faces such as Louis Jourdan and Joss Ackland, "Silver Bears" is little more than a tawdry movie about tawdry people. A piece of tarnished silver. 5/10

This is a movie I could easily have missed. It played at a theater I worked at, and was an unusually rare booking in that, as I recall, it actually played for less than a week (talk about filler).

Nevertheless, it really is a gem of a comedy. Years later, working in a video store, I would frequently put it on the store monitor to play, and almost never got through the whole thing, because invariably someone would see a bit of it and then want to rent it.

Contrary to another user's comment, it would be hard to claim that Jay Leno's role is third. He has a good part, but he could hardly be placed ahead of Louis Jourdan or Tom Smothers. Possibly ahead of David Warner.

This is not some people's idea of comedy, as there are no fart jokes or car crashes, but it's a movie you find yourself chuckling at all the way through. A collection of classy comedic performances from the stars and supporting cast members Joss Ackland, Charles Gray, Jeremy Clyde (of Chad & Jeremy fame), and Leno, among others.

Be warned if looking for it on home video, however. Though the first release of it was in SP mode, it was later released in a bargain-bin EP/SLP version, which will of course look like crap. If only someone would put this gem out on DVD.

Czech writer/director Ivan Passer followed in the footsteps of Milos Forman to Hollywood but did not fare as well in terms of projects as his esteemed colleague, although he famously turned down the chance to direct 'Yentl'. His best American films are very much those of an outsider looking in and as the writer of 'Blonde in Love' and 'Fireman's Ball' he excels in showing the absurdities of the human condition.

The only absurdity of 'Silver Bears' is the film itself and heaven only knows how Passer became involved in this nonsensical venture.

A mobster is conned into buying a Swiss bank and his negotiator is likewise conned into investing in a silver mine, neither of which exist.

The film's poster would have us believe that this is a 'superb comedy' which turns out to be a misrepresentation on both counts.

There is no earthly point in criticising the players, most of whom are worthy of better. Louis Jourdan and Stéphane Audran provide that indefinably Gallic 'Je ne sais quoi' whilst the show is stolen by Tom Smothers whose close-up reaction when he realises that he has been made the 'fall guy' is absolutely priceless.

When asked why he made so many mediocre films Michael Caine replied that "people only remember the good ones". He is alas probably right and this belongs to a growing number of his films that I, for one, would prefer to forget.

'Silver Bears' is an enjoyable Clever caper in the tradition of 'The Sting' & 'Matchstick Men' Sir Michael Caine plays "Doc" Fletcher a Financial wizard who is sent by Mafia boss Joe Fiore Martin Balsam to buy a bank in Switzerland in order to launder their profits. Caine purchases a premises which is rather shabby and located above a pizzeria. Jourdan suggests that Caine invests in a silver mine owned by strange persian siblings Stéphane Audran and David Warner. the Silver mine attracts the attention of some of the most powerful people in the silver business. all is not what it seems as everyone is out to swindle Caine and company 'Silver Bears' also stars a fresh faced Jay Leno and kooky Cybill Shepherd.

It picked up a bit towards the end of the film, but generally it was pretty awful.

Some really hammy acting and dreadful characters made the confusing plot all too implausible.

"Silver Bears" is a great little effort from Czech master, Ivan Passer. It's funny well acted and neatly done comedy caper, that wont let you go until the end. I don't know why it was so badly reviewed when it easily counts among the top 20 comedies of the 70's. Michael Caine is great as usual as Cockney mafioso who in order to make a buck for himself gets a green light from Italian mafioso to start a bank in Switzerland in order to launder some funds, but there's a catch. In fulfilling that mission, without getting himself a brand new pair of cement boots, Caine is greatly helped by Louis Jourdan as sleazy Prince Di Siracusa, and an odd couple of blockheads consisting of Jay Leno in his best role to date, apart from the "Tonight Show", and Tony Mascia as Marvin Skinner. Cybil Shepherd is always great as a decoration, and the movie slides along beautifully with turns on every corner. Passer later proved to be great as a director of many layers, showing his skills most notably in the "Cutter's Way", but here he does it strictly by the numbers. Great fun, catch it if you can, if you like comedies with style, you wont be disappointed.

Complicated-to-the-point-of-derisory goings on; set in the less-than-fascinating world of the silver shares market, Swiss banks, crooked syndicate bosses and their schemes and so on. And on. And on. For at 110 minutes, this painfully protracted, alleged 'comedy' becomes unbearable as its visual jokes are repeated ad infinitum. The humour itself, although not exactly in the 'Road Trip' class of vulgarity, is unlikely to appeal to anyone over the age of 7. Everyone acts superfluously silly under the impression they are doing a good job, oblivious to their director, who is busy making some sort of jet-set Jacqueline Susannesque melodrama. Cybill has her work cut out as she frequently has to play the scenery as well as her designated role. The sort of film you may at least be able to laugh at, as opposed to with, provided you can drum up the enthusiasm to keep your eyes on the screen.

Excellent movie that actually shows how the world of finance and banking works even today, and shows it with a touch of style and intelligent humor. Great cast, lovely story and for me, above all else, very simplified yet precise way of how things actually work in the finance world, even 30 years after the film was made (this is obviously thanks to Paul Erdman who wrote the novel in the first place). It is always interesting to see and recognize someone like Jay Leno in this movie and to actually see him act quite good. Michael Cain is great as always and Cybill is a nice addition as a pretty face. Definitely an easy going must watch movie that is quite intelligent and interesting beyond bombs, car chases and similar stuff..

This is easily one of top 100 favourite films, and having just watched it again last night I felt compelled to finally write a review on it.

The casting is wonderful, the acting is superb, the script is involved but very well thought out and so it makes for an intelligent film, the scenery and camera work are excellent, the dialogue is subtlety written, and the film has a wonderful ending. So what's not to like?

For me this is one of those rare films where scene after scene is memorable, and each for their own reasons. My favourite scene is probably the one where Caine confronts his boss by the pool: the respect the two have for each other is wonderfully portrayed and presented, and Caine's look up to the sky immediately following the encounter shows the stress he was feeling during the confrontation - beautifully written, acted and shot!!

Bad points? Honestly, there ain't many that this reviewer can find. I guess Shephard's character may seem over the top, but she would have charmed me every bit as much as she did Caine, and so his interest in her feels completely authentic.

Another issue for some viewers may be the subtle dialogue and involved plot, but that's always going to be an issue with an intelligent film.

So why would I not give this film a 10 like I would Ben Hur, Lawrence of Arabia, My Fair Lady, Charade, Lord of the Rings, or other classic masterpieces? Because those films all have some magic in them, and that's the one thing that Silver Bears lacks. It is superb in almost every way, but it lacks magic.

To sum up, I regard Silver Bears as a highly underrated film, and if you appreciate great acting and intelligent plots, I reckon you'll really enjoy it.

Very nice vintage movie, good story good location and excelent acting the movie self is also good preserved.

When i saw its rating here its absolutly more worth an at least an 8 from GOOD.

I heard, many years ago, that Michael Caine used to pick his movie parts on the basis of the locations the films were to be shot in.

'Ah!' He would think, 'I quite fancy a trip to Switzerland and Morocco. Haven't been there for a bit.'

I guess that's why Caine took this part. I can think of no other reason* other than he fancied a trip to Morocco and the money was good. This long dull film is nowhere as funny or complicated as it thinks it is. The few plot twists are very obvious and not very twisty. The humour is leaden. (About halfway through I had to look at the DVD case sleeve to check whether I had been mistaken, but no, it was supposed to be a comedy.)

Very avoidable.

*Apart from the fact that his part called for him to roll around on a bed with a young, semi-naked Cybill Shepherd. Nice work if you can get it.

A very young jay leno! Louis jordan. Michael caine, way after alfie. Martin balsam, years after tiffany's. Joe fiore is an italian boss, and buys a bank to help finance his various "projects". Doc and the prince partner with him, by finding a silver mine that needs developing and refining. It's all heists and scams, similar to what caine will do in dirty rotten scoundrels ten years later. But when word of the silver mine gets out, others want in on the deal too! Fun scams and dirty deals. Small roles for cybill shepherd, tommy smothers. It's long, but mostly quite good! Directed by ivan passer; i had watched his films before, but found them mostly okay. Check out david warner's biography page on imdb...quite an interesting life!