Nick the Sting
# Nick the Sting

Nick the Sting (Italian: Gli amici di Nick Hezard) is a 1976 Italian film directed by Fernando Di Leo. It stars actor Gabriele Ferzetti.

## 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. The film went into production after finishing Kidnap Syndicate with a screenplay already written by Alberto Silvestri based around the film The Sting. 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."

Nick the Sting was shot at Elios Studio in Rome and on location in Geneve. 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.

## Release

Nick the Sting was distributed theatrically in Italy by Interfilm on 29 April 1976. The film grossed a total of 427,272,200 Italian lire domestically. It was released on DVD in Italy by Raro Video.

