Lassiter

Lassiter (1984)

When the law has a job they can't handle... they need a man outside the law.

A handsome jewel thief is arrested and in order to avoid prison, must break into the heavily guarded German Embassy to steal millions in gems.

Date of release
1984-02-17
TMDB
5.4 / 10 (46)
Runtime
1h 40m
Genres
Crime, Drama, Thriller, Action
Director
Roger Young

Casting

Interesting facts

  • Box office: $17.5M
  • Budget: $20M
  • Earned 0.9× its budget

Lassiter is a 1984 heist spy film starring Tom Selleck, Jane Seymour and Lauren Hutton. The movie was made to cash in on Selleck's popularity as the character Thomas Magnum in the television show Magnum, P.I., but it failed to return its budget at the box office on release. The Magnum, P.I. connection is perhaps most clearly seen by the movie poster tagline: The Magnum Man Hits the Big Screen with a Vengeance.

Production

The film was Selleck's second starring vehicle after becoming an international name with Magnum. He optioned the script himself, showed it to Golden Harvest while making High Road to China, and they bought the option.

Selleck signed to make Lassiter before High Road to China came out "because I thought it was a good idea to have another film lined up in case High Road didn't work." The film would be directed by Roger Young, who directed the pilot for Magnum, and the filmmakers agreed to work around Selleck's limited schedule—he could only film between April and June. "If I'd planned things out maybe I wouldn't have picked two period films in a row," he said.

Selleck admitted shortly before filming that he was having second thoughts about making the movie. Advance word on High Road was strong and he was offered a number of other movies, but he stuck to his original promise. Selleck said, "In a business where you often hear actors described as children, it's nice to be treated as a partner and as an equal.

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