The film stars Elliott Gould, Kate Jackson, Rich Little, Arthur Hill, John Juliani and Alberta Watson.

A Harvard University student, (Nicholas Campbell) attempts to contact Prof. Chandler, (Elliott Gould) to authenticate a mysterious letter supposedly signed by George Washington.

Professor Chandler finds himself being hunted by a mafia killer and intrepid TV reporter Karen Polly Bishop (Kate Jackson).

[4] Distributed by AVCO Embassy Pictures, the film began an initial test run in Chicago[3] on March 20, 1981,[1] followed by a wider release on May 1 of that year.

"[7] Kevin Thomas of the Los Angeles Times stated, "Elliott Gould is such fun and so full of sweet mischief in 'Dirty Tricks' (selected theaters) it's a shame that it wastes both him and an amusing premise ...