HOT STUFF

US, 1979, 87 minutes, Colour.
Dom De Luise, Jerry Reed, Suzanne Pleshette, Ossie Davis, Richard Davalos.
Directed by Dom De Luise.

Hot Stuff stars and was directed by the plump and daffy comedian Dom DeLuise?. He plays for guffaws rather than the subtle and this film is like that - a humorous variation on the police capers of the '70s. To boost arrests in Miami, a squad is set up as a depot for buying stolen goods as well as getting the goods on the almost 200 clients they get - as well as push from the Mafia. A gallery of eccentrics, funny sales of the hot stuff and a slam bang finale provide some laughs in quick undemanding entertainment. Co-authored by Donald Westlake who wrote the eccentric capers The Bank Shot and the excellent The Hot Rock.

1. Title, tone, humour? Police films of the '70s - serious and comic? From The French Connection to The Choir Boys - and their influence on this film? A humorous variation?

2. The appeal of farce? Parody? Knockabout humour? Verbal and visual humour? Irony? The point of the film - modern police work, criminals? Collaboration in the face of the Mafia?

3. The film as Dom de Luise's work - comic style., performance, direction of action? How successful?

4. The Florida settings and their location photography? Florida society and criminals?

5. The humour of the police precinct - lack of arrests, failure, transferrals? Bureaucracy and statistics? The Captain and his exasperation, relationship with the group? His backing of the project - time of regret.. the failure of the phones at the end. his happy ending?

6. The portrait of the group and the variety of types? Ernie and his success, humour, push? Doug and his support - and parody of romantic hero? Ramon and his Spanish background? Louise and her newness on the job. reaction, collaboration with the group? Their working together as a team?

7. The basic inventive idea - using the funds., arresting Hymie and running him out of town? Using his shop? The set-up - the humour of the cameras and the effect of photographing the criminals? The range of clients and humour? The deals with the police? Jokes?

8. The character sketches of the clients., their goods, the use of the money, the records? Reselling the goods to raise more money? The comedy of complications?

10. The background of the Mafia, the robberies, difficulties and crises?

11. The build-up to the party - and the criminals all out to enjoy themselves? The arrival of the police? Chaos and the attack of the Mafia? The long brawl sequence and its effect? Criminals backing the police against the Mafia? Their agreeableness in being arrested? The favourable statistics?

12. Humour on modern society and its morals, the law? The letter of the law and the spirit of the law?