ma-cortes Charles (a magnificent Jean Gavin) is a mature delinquent recently released from prison . He renounces the plans his wife (Viviane Romance) about a simple and easy life . Charles pretends the perfect robbery recruiting previous cell-mate named Francis (Alain Delon, actor most often used in Verneuil films) . The hold-up is carefully schemed on the vault of Cannes casino in the French Riviera . Meanwhile Francis falls in love with a gorgeous baller dancer (Rita Cadillac). Francis wielding a machine gun and black masked hides himself on the elevator shaft and heads to basement where is the locker room . But the bad luck does the crime gone awry.This heist movie packs thrills , emotion , romance, extraordinary performances and exciting finale burglary . Sensational acting by two big star names , Gabin and Delon . Strong secondary cast with Viviane Romance as the spouse , Jean Carmet as a barman and the Spanish Jose Luis De Villalonga as a Casino chief . Interesting and thrilling screenplay by the prestigious Michael Audiard based on novel by Zekial Marko . Atmospheric cinematography in black and white by Louis Page . Lively musical score with catching leitmotif composed and conducted by Michael Magne .The picture is splendidly directed by Henry Verneuil , a Turkish director working in France from the 40s . Although not a director of great reputation among the critics , his movies have almost all been aimed squarely at the commercial market . Verneuil is an expert on heist-genre such as he proved in ¨The Sicilians clan(68)¨ also with Gabin and Delon , ¨The burglars(1971)¨ with Omar Shariff and Jean Paul Belmondo , furthermore on Warlike genre : ¨Weekend at Dunkirk¨ and ¨The 25th hour¨ and even directed one Western : Guns of San Sebastian(68)¨. He seemed to have dropped out of the film-making after 1976 , but in 1981 unexpectedly reappeared with yet another of his caper film : ¨Thousand millions of dollars¨ . Rating : Exceptional and above average, a must see for French cinema lovers and Gavin and Delon fans.

writers_reign This is referential to a degree; the young Turk and the seasoned pro was done better in Alain Corneau's Le Choix des armes with Gerard Depardieu taking on Yves Montand and if it comes to that Montand was integral to a better 'caper' movie, Jean-Pierre Melville's Le Cercle Rouge but whilst this one takes its time to get going Henri Verneuil racks up the tension with the heist itself, which is, of course, the centre point and then he tends to let himself down by a slight variant of the end of Kubrick's The Killing. Nothing with Gabin is ever going to be a waste of time and though Delon developed into a fine actor he is a tad too mannered here. There's a good opening sequence in which Gabin, on the train taking him home out of the slammer (though we don't know this yet) listens scornfully to the other commuters comparing dull lives but after this there's something of a hiatus til the caper itself. Worth a look.

Harry T. Yung It's so refreshing to sit back, relax, and enjoy a slow simmering casino robbery caper. No dizzy editing, no mindless car chases, no wiz kid gadgets, no convoluted but inexplicable plots. Just an old hand released after serving 5 years, coming home to his wife and vowing that he will pull off a big one and live happily ever after. Never hurried, things get better and better. The year is 1963 and the venue, the French Riviera, as a matter of fact, Cannes. Better still, it's in black and white.Here we have young Alain Delon's explosive appearance that makes him look like James Dean for a few minutes, before he resumes the persona we know him so well by, cool and stylish. At the ending (and what an ending), we even see him in a little bit of a pensive mood. It is, however, old timer Jean Gabin who gives you every dollar's worth, portraying the old master, sturdy as a rock and clever as a fox, as Spencer Tracy might have played it.Following the caper through from the meticulous storytelling, we become so empathized with the principals that we are finally prepared for the ending. The situation is so devilishly set up that every tingle of tension in the air become palpable. Use of the camera is now swung to high gear, from the shot of Delon appearing at a distance through a circular archway with a bulky bag in each hand, to the frame with Gabin sitting at the near side of the swimming pool and Delon over at the far side, at an angle. You can hear the thundering silence as they exchange non-existent glances. The last twenty minutes in this movie would be the most memorable last twenty minutes in any movie that you have come across.

franzgehl An old gangster (Jean Gabin) wants to plan a last robbery before retiring. He asks a young man (Alain Demon) met in jail for a partner. The story may look classical but it's played very fine. The most interesting thing in this movie is the dialogue by Michel Audiard. It's amazing ! As good as ever, so watch this film in french language.It's also the farewell to an old world which disappears little by little because the time of old gangsters is over. It's also funny to hear the characters talk in french postwar slang language.