Ah yes, the "ex-con pulls one more job" movie that every actor signs up for at least once in his career. And, if you like him, you'll go out and watch the movie to support his career. If you don't, you'll roll your eyes during the preview and wait until your celebrity boyfriend acts in one. That being said, Kirk Douglas fans should run out and watch The Master Touch. Non-fans should wait, because unless you're armed with your crush, you probably won't enjoy the movie.Kirk gets out of prison and returns home to his girlfriend Florinda Bolkan, who wants him to stay straight. Giuliano Gemma leads him into temptation-as always happens in these movies-and Kirk has to decide whether he'll risk his freedom and his girlfriend for the chance to pull of one last, big heist. The movie is very 1970s, so expect a slow pace, car chases, long shots and zooms, and a European flavor. If you particularly like that style, you'll find the movie more enjoyable. If not, you'll get through it and look forward to the next Kirk Douglas movie you rent.

Good: A superb car chase (worth the price of admission – they don't make them like that any more), some great fights (again, I don't see that kind of action in modern films), a decent heist, and a couple plot twists I didn't expect. Nice control of camera depth of field. This really could have been a great movie.Bad: The unappealing characters just sucked the joy out of this movie. Nobody's likable. I didn't like Douglas. I didn't like his wife. I didn't like the circus performer. There's nobody to root for. Also, after the final plot twist, you can predict the rest of the movie and by then I just didn't care.5 stars for the car chase and fights.

To insure some box office for this film released in America as Master Touch, Kirk Douglas was added to this Italian-German production filmed in and around Hamburg. I'm sure that Douglas did this one for the European vacation he was going to get. Master Touch is your average caper film that has elements of other films like Bullitt, The Asphalt Jungle and Topkapi. But it doesn't glide into the different moods of these films, it rather lurches uncomfortably.Kirk is a master safe-cracker who's just returned from a stretch in the joint. It's never really explained why this American is operating in Germany, so I assume it was a German prison. Wolfgang Preiss, a syndicate boss for whom he was doing a job when he was caught wants him for another caper. Douglas turns him down flat, but Preiss won't take no for an answer.In the meantime though he's pinched for cash so what to do, but back to the old trade and he decides to pull the job that Preiss offered on his own. He teams up with young Giuliano Gemma, a young circus performer who he saw best one of Preiss's hoods in a fight. In the meantime wife Florinda Bolkan pleads with Kirk to go straight.The best parts of Master Touch are devoted to the robbery and it is here the film most resembles Topkapi. The robbery sequences show that Kirk indeed had a Master Touch.What he didn't have is good judgment in people and that leads to a climax somewhat reminiscent of The Asphalt Jungle. I'm not about to give away any endings.Master Touch will never make anyone's top 10 list of Kirk Douglas films. Good in spots it still leaves quite a bit to be desired. But Kirk's fans around the world will like it.

It surprises me that for my 1st review, I would be moved to write a piece on this movie. I bought it for $1.99 at the local DVD store just because of the cover featuring Kirk Douglas as the star. What moved him to do this movie at this stage of his career would be interesting to know. In any event, I really enjoyed this movie a great deal. It had a car chase that rivals two of my favorites of all time in Bullit and the French Connection. It had the most realistic fight scenes I can remember seeing. The heist was elaborately thought out befitting the USA title of The Master Touch. It had a great twist at the end. A very good musical score composed by one of my favorites of all time by Ennino Moricone. Finally, It even had what I felt was a moral message to pass on at the end. Unfortunately, it also had a couple of big negatives that would perhaps bother a number of viewers. The quality of the DVD transfer is poor. Also, except for Kirk, the performer's lines are dubbed in English.All in all however, I enjoyed this movie tremendously and feel like I uncovered an unknown gem which for movie lovers provides a great satisfaction in itself.