Dirty Tricks (film)
Dirty Tricks is a 1981 American comedy film directed by Alvin Rakoff and written by William W. Norton, Eleanor E. Norton, Thomas Gifford and Camille Gifford. The film stars Elliott Gould, Kate Jackson, Rich Little, Arthur Hill, John Juliani and Alberta Watson. Plot. A Harvard University student, (Nicholas Campbell) attempts to contact Prof. Chandler, (Elliott Gould) to authenticate a mysterious letter supposedly signed by George Washington. The student is murdered and the letter vanishes. Professor Chandler finds himself being hunted by a mafia killer and intrepid TV reporter Karen Polly Bishop (Kate Jackson). Production. Principal photography began  on August 13, 1979 in Montreal and lasted about nine weeks; additional location shooting was done in Boston where the film was set. The film was made with the participation of the Canadian Film Development Corporation. Release. Distributed by AVCO Embassy Pictures, the film began an initial test run in Chicago on March 20, 1981, followed by a wider release on May 1 of that year. Home media. The film was released on VHS in the United States by Embassy Home Entertainment. Reception. Larry Kart of the "Chicago Tribune" gave the film zero stars out of four and wrote that  the shoddiness of the product is beyond belief. Lines are blown left and right, cuts within scenes don't match, and the performances would be unacceptable in a home movie ... If you've ever wondered what it's like at the bottom of the barrel, this film will take you on a guided tour. "Variety" wrote, "Despite the efforts of a willing and able cast, 'Dirty Tricks' flounders as a would-be chase comedy, done in by lame writing and misjudged direction." Kevin Thomas of the "Los Angeles Times" stated, "Elliott Gould is such fun and so full of sweet  mischief in 'Dirty Tricks' (selected theaters) it's a shame that it wastes both him and an amusing premise ... There are lot of car chases ending in routinely spectacular crashes, lots of trite spoofing of the Mafia and the FBI and lots of bloody violence, all of which is scarcely amusing." Gary Arnold of "The Washington Post" called the film "so shabby that it almost makes 'Foul Play' look classy." David Macfarlane of "Maclean's" wrote, ""Dirty Tricks" is crass, witless and boring. Its humor is invariably sexist, its violence gratuitous. The acting is abysmal, the screenplay atrocious, and the  direction beyond the pale. Any film that is little more than a vehicle for Gould's just-got-out-of-bed-where's-the-coffee style is obviously in very big trouble."