nine targets, claiming that the cartel will collapse if they are killed. The team trains for a week before heading to Marseille where they carry out their operation. Herman kills his target with a shotgun in a movie theater as the man watches The Godfather. Ida stabs hers in the bathroom at a restaurant. Mike shoots the yachtsman with a speargun as he tries to retrieve another package of opium. Barry and Dutch drive straight onto the grounds of the chateau and shoot the opium processor. Sherry poses as a waitress and poisons another leader of the ring. Sherry, in practice runs, initially has problems committing this crime in the crucial alotted time, primarily because she's in heat. Mike convinces Nick to sleep with Sherry to tinge her hormones and she then commits the murder successfully. Barry and Sherry go to a fashion house and assassinate two other ringleaders there. Meanwhile, Nick poses as a gas serviceman digging a new trench for a pipe at the mansion. He kills his target with a bazooka. The Director confronts Nick after the operation is complete and offers a solution to coverup what happened, claiming the French are furious at the U.S. Nick sees through the ruse and says that the Director is furious because Nick showed how easy it was to destroy the cartel with a ragtag team. The Director threatens to have Nick killed. Nick smiles and leaves. Cast Billy Dee Williams as Nick Allen Richard Pryor as Mike Willmer Paul Hampton as Barry Strong Gwen Welles as Sherry Nielson Warren J. Kemmerling as "Dutch" Schiller Janet Brandt as Ida Sid Melton as Herman Zooey Hall as Carlin Todd Martin as Crosby Norman Burton as The Director Jenny Astruc as Mademoiselle Frelou Yves Barsacq as Romain Jean-Claude Bercq as Jean-Baptiste Henri Cogan as Bornou Pierre Collet as "Zero" Tina Andrews as Jeannie Allen, Nick's Daughter Production Many of the people, both cast and crew, involved in this film had previously worked on Lady Sings the Blues (1972). The F/V Victory, which Richard Pryor is seen piloting, was supposed to be blown up, with money being offered to owner Donald Gillich (who actually steered the boat from the pilot house below) for a replacement. Gillich however shot the producers down, saying he didn't want his family's boat destroyed. The role of Nick Allen was originally written for Steve McQueen. Reception Vincent Canby