Independent diamond broker Howard Chesser and his girlfriend Maren Shirell attempt a heist at a major Diamond Exchange house in London.
A small time diamond merchant jumps at the chance to supervise the purchase and cutting of a large first class diamond. But when the diamond is stolen from him, he is blackmailed into pulling off a major heist at the Diamond Exchange, located at 11 Harrowhouse.—Brian W Martz <[email protected]>
A small-time diamond trader Howard R. Chesser (Charles Grodin, narrator) sliding by with an easy living and girlfriend he cant marry, rankles at being treated with contempt by the Diamond Exchange. Located at 11 Harrowhouse, the Exchange carefully controls the flow of diamonds and stockpiles tons of in order to maintain their value. When multi-millionaire Clyde Massey (Trevor Howard) wants a large diamond to be named "The Massey," Chesser jumps at the chance to negotiate a million-pound deal and snub his nose at the Exchange and particularly its snobbish Director Meecham (John Gielgud.
However, things do not go according to plan, when Chesser and his girlfriend Maren (Candace Bergen) are robbed of the diamond on his return from getting it cut; he finds himself blackmailed by Massey into engineering the theft of all four tons of diamonds stockpiled at the Exchange. With the help of his free-spirited girlfriend, the gravely ill employee at the Exchange named Watts (George Mason), a cockroach wearing nail polish and a giant vacuum hose the three manage to literally suck up all the diamonds through the wiring system.
But there is still more action, betrayal, a car chase featuring a black Lotus Europa and a twist on returning the diamonds to 11 Harrow House.
