Silver Bears (1978)

In this mildly amusing banking thriller adapted from a novel by Paul Erdman, Michael Caine stars as a monetary wizard who creates a Swiss bank to finance a silver mine in Iran. But all is not as it seems and he ends up having to out-scam the crooks who are attempting to scam him. 

It’s flawed but entertaining. On the down side, a couple of the characters are misjudged and could have been cut completely – for example, Jay Leno is awkward and almost entirely pointless as Albert Fiore. It’s also a little slow to get going, and for a so-called comedy it could have been a lot funnier. 

On the plus side, Cybill Shepherd is excellent as the kooky wife of an accountant. The film improves from the moment she steps into it. And Charles “Blofeld” Gray is easy to like as a millionaire precious-metals dealer. Louis Jourdan and Joss Ackland are also fairly strong. The Swiss locations look good, and there’s a nice soundtrack by Claude Bolling.