Der Coup

This film is sadly underrated (as is Charles Bronson's "Red Sun") for the fun it provides. Its an old-fashioned adventure story of a corrupt cop (Sharif) in a cat and mouse game with a gang of burglars led by Belmondo with a cache of emeralds as the prize. Its beautifully shot in widescreen and the music by Morricone is awesome. A great car chase is a bonus. What else do you want for 2 hours? Good laconic perf by Belmondo. Sharif as the vicious bent cop is good as well. Dont look for deep characterization; Verneuil's goal is the keep the story moving. The widescreen (2.35) ratio of this film requires a letterbox video treatment. Unluckily for us fans it may be a long wait before we see such a treatment.

I have been reading the work of David Goodis, an American writer who wrote dark thrillers in the 1940's and 1950's. After reading the novels, I have been watching (or re-watching) the film adaptations. Goodis's work has been adapted by Francois Truffaut (Shoot the Piano Player), Delmer Daves (Dark Passage), and Samuel Fuller (Street of No Return), among others. Henri Verneuil's film adaptation of Goodis's The Burglar is best watched on its own terms rather than as an adaptation.

The Burglars (film) keeps a great deal of the plot from The Burglar (novel). A group of burglars (three men and a young woman) are in the process of robbing emeralds from a house when a policeman (two in the novel) spots their getaway car. The leader of the burglars (Azad in the movie, Harbin in the novel) convinces the policeman/policemen that his car has broken down. The police car leaves and the robbery is finished. Everything appears fine, but then come the complications. A beautiful woman comes out of nowhere and begins to make eyes at Azad/Nat, setting up a love triangle with the female burglar. In addition, the policeman (or one of the policemen in the novel) wants the emeralds for himself, setting up a game of cat and mouse.

All of the above summary fits both the movie and the novel. The big difference is in tone. The movie is trying to be a crowd pleaser. The tone is mostly light, giving Jean-Paul Belmondo and Omar Sharif a chance to play off of each other. There is a fun car chase and a funny scene in a restaurant where the policeman insists on ordering the burglar's food. Also, the catchy Ennio Morricone score reflects the film's lighthearted mood (I own the soundtrack). On the downside, The Burglars is a little overlong and mostly wastes Dyan Cannon. In addition, while fun to watch, there is not much to reflect upon when it is over.

The novel The Burglar goes into much darker territory. It is a noir story, where the criminal hero finds himself struggling in traps both real and emotional as he balances two very different women and tries to survive the corrupt policeman. This policeman is not the cool, dashing Omar Sharif but an unhinged psychopath with no qualms about resorting to murder.

Here is an example of how film and novel handle a similar section. In both, the female burglar is sent away after the job. In both, the hero, Azad/Harbin, has to go and retrieve her. In the film, he resorts to riding around in a clown car, literally a car done up with a giant clown on the front, broadcasting an advertisement for the coming circus. This works in the film because The Burglars is the equivalent of a trip to the circus. However, the novel records its hero's journey with unease dripping from the pages.

"Then the road sign was past them and in front of them was the black and the booming storm. Harbin had an odd feeling they were a thousand miles away from Atlantic City and a thousand miles away from anywhere. He tried to convince himself the Black Horse Pike was a real thing and in daylight it was just another concrete road. But ahead of him now it looked unreal, like a path arranged for unreal travel, its glimmer unreal, black of it unreal with the wet wild thickness all around it."

The Burglars is an enjoyable enough heist picture, but The Burglar is a novel that gut punches the reader.

Great car chase sequence (which like everyone said has NOTHING to do with the plot of the movie--it mostly just introduces the idea that Omar Shariff is a bad ass as well.) Movie is good escapist entertainment---Bellmondo steals a bunch of emeralds from the safe of some dude's house in a Greek island and said dude hires Shariff (who is a cop) to bring them emeralds on home. A lot of alternating scenes of smooth talking between the two and chasing follow--somehow Dyan Cannon as a visiting American model enters the plot as a potential ally for Bellmondo---even tho her role makes very little sense, its still totally worth it for one sequence in which Bellmondo slaps her silly and those slaps turn on and turn off the lights in her apt--(her apt apparently was an early beta tester of The Clapper! its very very funny and got a huge laugh from the audience who actually came out to see a re-screening of this the other week.) Very enjoyable movie overall--but far from perfect--but who the hell needs perfection when you have that car chase and a drunken Omar Shariff right? seriously that was a legitimate question!

There are few reasons to watch this well made action, thriller, heist, fun flick: 1) Awesome car chase in the streets of Prauge (Another reason to watch)that makes all those CGI look alike cry. 2) The restaurant scene which will make you want to eat those tasty looking dishes, while Omar Sheriff and Belmondo are having a witty dialog. 3) Belmondo over the top stunts, you have to see to believe. This guy was nuts alright. 4) Excellent as always, Ennio Morricone soundtrack. 5) The funny Ending.

If you are looking for a good 70's action fun, with some nice exotic places, with great car chase and good cast, go a head try it!

...that's if you can get it at all. I haven't seen a copy of this movie in about 15 years, and it's only because it has such a dumb title that I can even remember what it was called.

Honestly, I can't remember anything about 'The Burglars', which I saw once, in about 1989, other than the fact that it has the most amazing car chase I've ever seen. I remember thinking the stunt drivers must have been madmen. No special effects, slow-motion or anything; just insane high speed driving through the streets of Athens. Steven Spielberg is supposed to have said that 'The Castle of Cagliostro' had the best car chase ever filmed. I guess he can't have seen this one. Honestly, it's just nuts.

As for the rest of the film, I don't remember, and frankly, who cares. If I ever track down another copy, it'll only be for one reason (and BTW, I'm not a car-chase, or even action-film buff. I mean, I thought 'Gone in 60 seconds' was as boring as dirt, as well as being utterly stupid. But I will always make room for the best example of any genre, and if car-chases were a genre, this would be my pick)

Well, that wan't much of a review, was it? But from what I remember, it wasn't much of a movie except for the... yeah, yeah, OK: you get the idea by now.