| El Crack | |
|---|---|
| Directed by | José Luis Garci |
| Produced by | José Luis Garci |
| Written by | Jose Luis Garci Horacio Valcárcel |
| Starring | Alfredo Landa |
| Music by | Jesús Gluck |
| Cinematography | Manuel Rojas |
| Editing by | Miguel González Sinde |
| Studio | Nickelodeon |
| Release date(s) | 6 April 1981 (Spain) |
| Running time | 130 min. |
| Country | Spain |
| Language | Spanish |
El Crack (English: The Crack) is a 1981 Spanish film written and directed by José Luis Garci, starring Alfredo Landa. The plot was inspired by the works by Dashiell Hammett, to whom the film is dedicated. It evokes the film noirs made in Hollywood in the 1930s.
Germán Areta, a 43-year-old private detective, spent 12 years at the FBI and now has an office working as a private detective devoting himself to solving cases. One day, Francisco Medina, a mysterious man comes to German's office and gives the commission of finding his daughter, Isabel, a 17 years old girl, of which he does not know her whereabouts. The only reference is a boyfriend who took the girl and now works in radio. Germán comes in contact with him and learns that she became pregnant and the father forced her to have an abortion in London, then lost her trail.
In his spare time, Germán goes out with Carmen, a nurse who has a four year old daughter, Maite, born from a relationship with a married man. The detective has been fond of the little girl, he takes her to school and plays with her. They begin to pressure the detective through various channels to stop investigating the case of Medina's daughter disappearance.
Someone of high finance areas are involved in the girl's missing case, and as a warning to the detective, a bomb in a car kills Maite. This leaves Areta heartbroken, but more determine than ever to find the truth of what ever happened to Isabel. Germán speaks to one of the men paid by the financier, about Medina's case. The girl died at the hands of financial sadist.
Areta moves to New York in pursue of the responsible for the deaths of Maite and Isabel. At his return to Madrid, Germán rekindles his relationship with Carmen.