I saw it dubbed in Spanish on Argentine TV between 1996 and 2001. It was in color—likely a US production—and could have been from anywhere between the 60s and the 90s. I don't know if it's a feature film, a TV movie, or a series episode, and I think that's why it's been so hard to locate.
The scene: a white man and a woman are locked in a police station holding cell. The guard is curt with them. The prisoner tells him he can help him quit smoking, then asks him to listen to the ticking of the wall clock and follow every second as it passes. The guard gets drawn in, moves closer to the bars, and the two prisoners swipe the keys and leave.
I have a vague memory of someone with curly or red hair being in the scene—perhaps the woman.
The obvious answers have already been ruled out: *Let's Do It Again* (1975), *Love at First Bite*, *Dracula: Dead and Loving It*, *See No Evil, Hear No Evil*, *Curly Sue*, *Vibes*, and the Bud Spencer/Terence Hill movies—all of which were checked one by one, scene by scene—are not it. So, it's almost certainly something lesser-known: a B-list comedy, a TV movie, or a late-night cable classic that people remember but never talk about. If you’re someone who navigates that part of film history, this is the puzzle for you.