''Seven Men and One Brain'' ( it, 7 uomini e un cervello) also known as ''Criminal Affair'' and ''Criminal Symphony'' is a 1968

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional Ita ...

Argentinian Argentines (mistakenly translated Argentineans in the past; in Spanish ( masculine) or ( feminine)) are people identified with the country of Argentina. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Argentines, ...

international co-production A co-production is a joint venture between two or more different production companies for the purpose of film production, television production, video game development, and so on. In the case of an international co-production, production compa ...

crime comedy Crime films, in the broadest sense, is a film genre inspired by and analogous to the crime fiction literary genre. Films of this genre generally involve various aspects of crime and its detection. Stylistically, the genre may overlap and combine ...

heist film The heist film or caper film is a subgenre of crime film focused on the planning, execution, and aftermath of a significant robbery. One of the early defining heist films was '' The Asphalt Jungle'' (1950), which ''Film Genre 2000'' wrote "almo ...

produced and directed by and also starring a non-singing

Rossano Brazzi Rossano Brazzi (18 September 1916 – 24 December 1994) was an Italian actor. Biography Brazzi was born in Bologna, Italy, the son of Maria Ghedini and Adelmo Brazzi, an employee of the Rizzoli shoe factory. He was named after Rossano Vene ...

Plot

Criminologist Criminology (from Latin , "accusation", and Ancient Greek , ''-logia'', from λόγος ''logos'' meaning: "word, reason") is the study of crime and deviant behaviour. Criminology is an interdisciplinary field in both the behavioural and s ...

Ross Simpson seems to have everything that one could desire; the respect of his university students, being an author, and having a secret identity. The only thing Simpson doesn't have is a large amount of money. Simpson's secret identity involves planning what he regards as perfect crimes, however they fail due to the stupidity and bumbling of the criminals he recruits to carry out his secret schemes. Simpson's publishers send him on an all expenses paid trip to

Buenos Aires Buenos Aires ( or ; ), officially the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires ( es, link=no, Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires), is the Capital city, capital and primate city of Argentina. The city is located on the western shore of the Río de la Plata ...

that includes accommodation and an attractive secretary. Putting his writing on hold, Simpson schemes to rob the patrons of the

Teatro Colón The Teatro Colón (Spanish: ''Columbus Theatre'') is the main opera house in Buenos Aires, Argentina. It is considered one of the ten best opera houses in the world by National Geographic. According to a survey carried out by the acousti ...

during the opening performance of ''

La traviata ''La traviata'' (; ''The Fallen Woman'') is an opera in three acts by Giuseppe Verdi set to an Italian libretto by Francesco Maria Piave. It is based on '' La Dame aux camélias'' (1852), a play by Alexandre Dumas ''fils'' adapted from his o ...

'' using a gang of Argentinian criminals who are trained to sing. Things begin to go awry when Simpson is pursued by the angry Italian criminals who failed on one of his Italian jobs and a variety of sexy women who seem to get in his way...

Cast

as Ross Simpson *

Ann-Margret Ann-Margret Olsson (born April 28, 1941) is a Swedish–American actress, singer, and dancer. As an actress and singer, she is credited as Ann-Margret. She is known for her roles in '' Pocketful of Miracles'' (1961), '' State Fair'' (1962), ' ...

as Leticia *

Barbara Nichols Barbara Marie Nickerauer (December 10, 1928 – October 5, 1976), known professionally as Barbara Nichols, was an American actress who often played brassy or comic roles in films in the 1950s and 1960s. Early life and career Nichols was b ...

as Miss Archillar *

Hélène Chanel Hélène Chanel (born Hélène Stoliaroff; 12 June 1941 in Deauville, Calvados, France) is a French actress of Russian heritage. She was active in the 1960s in a variety of European international co-productions of sword and sandal, Eurospy ...

as Georgette *

Gina Maria Hidalgo Gina or GINA or ''variation'' may refer to: Gina Gina may refer to: * Gina (given name), multiple individuals * Gina (Canaan), a town in ancient Canaan * Arihant (Jainism), also called gina, a term for a human who has conquered his or her inne ...

as Ana Veronesi *

Lando Buzzanca Gerlando "Lando" Buzzanca (24 August 1935 – 18 December 2022) was an Italian stage, film, and television actor whose career spanned 65 years. Life and career Early years Born in Palermo the son of a cinema projectionist, at 16 years old Buz ...

as Esteban de Flori * Mimma Biscardi *

Renzo Petretto Renzo, the diminutive of Lorenzo, is an Italian masculine given name and a surname. Given name Notable people named Renzo include the following: *Renzo Alverà (1933–2005), Italian bobsledder *Renzo Arbore (born 1937), Italian TV host, showm ...

as Crook *

Osvaldo Pacheco Osvaldo may refer to the following people: Given name *Osvaldo Alonso Osvaldo Alonso Moreno (born November 11, 1985) is a Cuban professional footballer who currently plays as a defensive midfielder for Atlanta United FC in Major League Soc ...

as José *

Alberto Dalbés Alberto Dalbés (April 3, 1922 – September 14, 1983) was an Argentine film and television actor. who appeared in Argentinian and Spanish films, including horror films, giallo/ crime dramas (''Night of the Assassins'', ''A Quiet Place To Kill'') ...

as Schwartz (as Alberto D'Alves) *

Rafael Carret Rafael may refer to: * Rafael (given name) or Raphael, a name of Hebrew origin * Rafael, California * Rafael Advanced Defense Systems, Israeli manufacturer of weapons and military technology * Hurricane Rafael, a 2012 hurricane Fiction * ''R ...

as Antonio (as Raphael Garret) *

Juan Carlos Lamas Juan Carlos Lamas (October 13, 1921 – July 27, 2004), born Rafael Velázquez, was an Argentine actor from Rosario. He starred in the 1962 film ''Una Jaula no tiene secretos ''Una jaula no tiene secretos'' (''A Cage Has No Secrets'') is a 1962 ...

as Crook *

Javier Portales Javier Portales, born Miguel Ángel Álvarez (21 April 1937 in Tancacha, Córdoba, Argentina – 14 October 2003 in Buenos Aires), was an Argentine actor who worked in television, film and theater. Biography Portales started to work early in ...

as Crook *

Augusto Codecá Augusto Codecá (7 June 1906 – 7 May 1978) was an Argentine film actor.Finkielman p.219 Selected filmography * ''Palermo'' (1937) * '' Cándida'' (1939) * '' Candida, Woman of the Year'' (1943) * ''The Three Musketeers ''The Three Muskete ...

as Crook * Alfonso Senatore as Crook *

Ricardo Castro Ríos Ricardo Castro Ríos (April 2, 1920 – January 21, 2001) was a classic Spanish - Argentine film actor. He came onto the scene in 1945 in the acclaimed 1945 film '' La cabalgata del circo'' in which he starred alongside two of the biggest nam ...

as Crook *

Nathán Pinzón Nathán Pinzón (27 February 1917 – 15 August 1993) was an Argentine actor. He starred in the 1962 film ''Una Jaula no tiene secretos''. Selected filmography * ''Santos Vega'' (1936) * ''Juan Moreira'' (1948) * ''Passport to Rio'' (1948) * ...

as Crook * Roger Smith as a gambler

Production

It was one of several films Ann-Margret made in Europe around this time.

Release

The film was a box office bomb. It was released in the United States as ''Criminal Affair'', in a version re-dubbed, re-edited and re-scored by the distributor.

Reception

The film was generally badly received by critics. A contemporary review of '' La Prensa'' described the film as a ripoff of ''

Big Deal on Madonna Street ''Big Deal on Madonna Street'' ( it, I soliti ignoti; released in the UK as ''Persons Unknown'') is a 1958 Italian comedy caper film directed by Mario Monicelli and considered to be among the masterpieces of Italian cinema. Its original Italia ...

'', "but Brazzi is no Monicelli or

Gassman Gassman is a surname. Notable people with the surname include: *Alessandro Gassman (born 1965), Italian actor * David Gassman (born 1949), American politician *Tedd Gassman (born 1943), American politician *Vittorio Gassman (1922–2000), Italian t ...

. The result is unbearable... the performers... are far below what they can give". Another contemporary review from ''

L'Unità ''l'Unità'' (, lit. 'the Unity') was an Italian newspaper, founded as the official newspaper of the Italian Communist Party (PCI) in 1924. It was supportive of that party's successor parties, the Democratic Party of the Left, Democrats of ...

'' outlined the film as an annoying film and a poor imitation of ''

Seven Golden Men ''Seven Golden Men'' ( it, Sette uomini d'oro) is a 1965 Italian crime-comedy film directed by Marco Vicario. A film about a bank heist, it follows a gang of men and one woman. It followed the same story line as '' Topkapi'', and has a seque ...

'', with a bleak story and a badly mistcast Brazzi ("an actor who can do everything but the gangster").

Notes

External links

* {{IMDb title, id=0062253, title=Criminal Symphony 1968 films Italian multilingual films Argentine multilingual films 1960s Italian-language films Italian heist films Italian crime comedy films English-language Italian films 1960s English-language films 1960s crime comedy films 1960s heist films 1968 comedy films English-language Argentine films 1960s Spanish-language films Films shot in Buenos Aires Argentine crime comedy films 1960s Italian films