Also known as: When Strangers Meet
Tagline: "The action EXPLODES right between your eyes!"
Plot: Jayne Mansfield leads an international cast in this initially groovy tale of $1 million in stolen U.S. currency that unites a band of colorful characters, including Mansfield's cleanliness-obsessed sexpot, two vicious hoods, a scheming hotel manager, his chilly sister, and a half-mad madam. When the money goes missing, a mad, poorly dubbed dash to retrieve it ensues, though the action crawls to a halt for an endless series of stagy, static, talky scenes inside a creepy brothel.
Key scenes: In a delirious opening sequence, Mansfield appears to be doing her damnedest to simulate having sex with money: She squirms, wiggles, and giggles ecstatically while rubbing paper bills over her Texas-sized cleavage. This is intercut with stylish footage of a hood running away from a multitasking suit-and-tie-clad bad guy who looks like the dumpiest Reservoir Dog as he drives a speeding car, cackles maniacally, wields a handgun, smokes a cigar, and wears sunglasses at night. Later, one of the crooks insults a slightly chubby colleague with the withering insult "Your mother must have made love to an elephant." Mansfield, meanwhile, reiterates her disturbingly sexual love of filthy lucre by proudly proclaiming "I've got a pash for the cash!"
Can easily be distinguished by: Its strange juxtaposition of a pregnant Mansfield, seemingly New Wave-inspired high-contrast black-and-white photography, a happening jazz score, hilariously overripe dialogue, international co-production cheesiness, and location shooting in Yugoslavia.
Sign that it was made in 1964: See above.
Timeless message: When conspiring to make off with a million smackers in ill-gotten loot, cooperation is a better tack than murderous competition.
Memorable quotes: Mansfield yells "Crackers!" at opportune moments. Somehow, this catchphrase failed to catch on with the general public.
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