| The Rip Off | |
| Director: | Antonio Margheriti |
| Producer: | Turi Vasile |
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| Music: | Paolo Vasile |
| Cinematography: | Sergio D'Offizi |
| Editing: | Roberto Sterbini |
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| Runtime: | 100 minutes |
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The Rip-Off (Italian: Controrapina), also known as The Squeeze and Diamond Thieves, is a 1980 film directed by Antonio Margheriti. It was Margheriti's third collaboration with actor Lee Van Cleef, after previously directing him in The Stranger and the Gunfighter and Take a Hard Ride.
Retired safe-cracker Chris Gretchko is coaxed out of comfortable retirement by Jeff Olafson, the impulsive son of a former accomplice, who begs him to help steal an undocumented shipment of diamonds to satiate Van Stratten, a New York City crime boss whose mistress, Jessica, has been seeing Jeff on the side. Chris subsequently recruits his old friend, pawn shop owner Sam, who agrees to fence the diamonds afterward. When they learn Van Stratten intends to cut them out of the deal, Chris and Jeff plot a countermeasure, resulting in Jeff getting thrown in jail to give him plausible deniability, and Chris convalescing in a safe house after getting shot during the heist. Clarisse, an eccentric neighbor in the building, discovers Chris, and agrees to help tend his injuries and lie to police who come looking for him. However, Captain Donati begins to piece together the events, and all the involved parties find their lives in danger.
The Rip-Off was filmed in Hamburg and on location in New York City and New Jersey from December 1977 to February 1978.
The Rip-Off was released in Italy on 1 April 1980. The film has been released in the United States under the titles The Rip-Off and The Squeeze.[1]