Nick the Sting

{{Infobox film

| name = Nick the Sting

| image = Gli-amici-di-nick-hezard.jpg

| alt =

| caption =

| native_name =

| director = Fernando Di Leo

| producer = {{plainlist|*Ermanno Curti

Rodolfo Putignani{{sfn|Curti|2013|p=186}}}}

| screenplay = Alberto Silvestri{{sfn|Curti|2013|p=186}}

| story = Alberto Silvestri{{sfn|Curti|2013|p=186}}

| based_on =

| starring = {{plainlist|* Luc Merenda

Lee J. Cobb}}

| music = Luis Enriquez Bacalov{{sfn|Curti|2013|p=186}}

| cinematography = Roberto Gerardi{{sfn|Curti|2013|p=186}}

| editing = Amedio Gimomini{{sfn|Curti|2013|p=186}}

| studio = Centro Produzioni Cinematografiche Citta di Milano{{sfn|Curti|2013|p=186}}

| distributor = Interfilm

| released = {{Film date|df=yes|1976|4|29|Italy}}

| runtime = 100 minutes{{sfn|Curti|2013|p=186}}

| country = Italy

| language =

| budget =

| gross = ₤427.272 million

}}

Nick the Sting ({{langx|it|Gli amici di Nick Hezard}}) is a 1976 Italian film directed by Fernando Di Leo. It stars actor Gabriele Ferzetti.{{sfn|Curti|2013|p=186}}

Cast

Luc Merenda as Nick Hezard
Lee J. Cobb as Robert Clark
Gabriele Ferzetti as Maurice
Luciana Paluzzi as Anna
Dagmar Lassander as Chantal
Isabella Biagini as Edy
Mario Pisu as Phil
Riccardo Salvino as Mark
William Berger as Roizman
Valentina Cortese as Nick's mother
Giò Stajano as Jeweller Steffen (credited as Gio Staiano)

Production

Nick the Sting was described by Italian film historian and critic Roberto Curti as a "work for hire" for director Fernando Di Leo.{{sfn|Curti|2013|p=187}} The film went into production after finishing Kidnap Syndicate with a screenplay already written by Alberto Silvestri based around the film The Sting.{{sfn|Curti|2013|p=187}} Di Leo commented that film had "quite a good script [...] but it had a couple huge problems: it would cost too much to film as it was written, and badly needed a charismatic lead."{{sfn|Curti|2013|p=187}}

Nick the Sting was shot at Elios Studio in Rome and on location in Geneve.{{sfn|Curti|2013|p=186}} Leo recalled that the film did not have a good production, finding Merenda not up to the task as a lead and the script did not come up as well as it had on paper.{{sfn|Curti|2013|p=187}}

Release

Nick the Sting was distributed theatrically in Italy by Interfilm on 29 April 1976.{{sfn|Curti|2013|p=186}} The film grossed a total of 427,272,200 Italian lire domestically.{{sfn|Curti|2013|p=187}} It was released on DVD in Italy by Raro Video.{{sfn|Curti|2013|p=187}}