Mélodie en sous-sol

Verneuil is quite well-known for his crime / heist movies and delivers again a classic with 'Mélodie en sous-sol'. Gabin is as solid as ever in his role as a tough heist master and Delon bring its youth and freshness to the movie, linking also the 'old' french movies (including Verneuil and Gabin) with the new generation. (For the anecdote, one year before, Verneuil has also associated Gabin this time with Belmondo, the actor most associated with the New wave movement.)

We definitely have an old time vs current time theme in the movie, illustrated by its first parts. We discover the new Sarcelles with Gabin. The criticism is not formulated by words but is obvious - the more when you know what these dormitory-towns will become. Thus, we follow Delon in his carefree life and I can only smile at the "good old time" referral and the irony behind it. Irony deliberate, already at that time. Irony even better now, that this current time shown in the movie has become a referred "good old time" of our period.

Not to forget Audiard dialogs and punchlines, that brings you smile each time you hear his so characteristic style.

After a long period in jail, Charles (Jean Gabin) returns home and does not accept the plan of his wife Ginette (Viviane Romance) of moving to the countryside for a quieter life. He plots the heist of a casino and invites his young cell mate Francis (Alain Delon) and his brother-in-law to participate. The check-in two different hotels posing of millionaire and Charles' plan works perfectly. But when Charles finds that Francis has compromised his plan with a silly attitude, things go wrong.

"Mélodie en sous-sol" is another great French heist movie with Jean Gabin and Alain Delon. The story is well-developed and the ironic conclusion is very tense. My vote is seven.

Title (Brazil): "Os Gangsters da Casaca" ("The Gentlemen Gangsters")

It is well nigh impossible to imagine any other French actor of that time with box office clout who could have played Charles, the ageing, hard-bitten crook nearly as well as Jean Gabin. There is also Alain Delon, the new kid on the block, who was very keen to play the part of Gabin's partner in crime as it would hopefully increase his profile in the United States.

This is Gabin's third collaboration with director Henri Verneuil and has all the hallmarks of Verneuil's style: very little camera movement, good composition of shots and an eye for detail. Louis Page who worked a great deal with Gabin contributes stunning cinematography. I found the score to be rather intrusive but I am probably in the minority. Adapted by Albert Simonin from 'The Big Grab' this has tremendous dialogue by Michel Audiard which is a gift to any actor. Rita Cadillac is rather insipid as the love interest but there is a lovely cameo from Dora Doll as a high class hooker. On a nostalgic level it is great to see Viviane Romance as she and Gabin had first appeared on film together in 1936. The highlight of course is the casino heist which is filmed brilliantly. Slick, professional but rather 'cold' this film will always have an audience because of its subject matter and the two charismatic leads. The final sequence is beautifully edited and absolutely priceless.

A prototypical heist flick. Old ex-con Jean Gambin is looking for one last score before he retires -- the robbery of a casino on the French Riveria. He enlists Delon, a cocky punk, to help him. Has all of the features: old guy looking for one last score, young active guy who still sort of needs to learn the ropes, complicated heist relying on split second timing, things that go wrong at the last second, unexpected developments, a lot of masquerades, etc. Early on there's some playing around with the notion that Gambin symbolizes a time that is passing, but that isn't really developed, settling down instead to more standard genre fare. Heist is clever and well done, the remake of Ocean's Eleven later stole some of the ideas here. Final shot has that typical Gallic "throw your hands up in despair" kind of thing going for it. Cast is good, with Delon in particular a standout in the kind of role he was meant to play in those years.

This film deserves more credit than it gets. All the actors are top notch (Jean Gabin as the ageing theif, Alain Delon as the playboy) and the story is very well crafted and has all the great tough guy dialogue of great caper's like RIFIFI, BOB LE FLAMBEUR etc however the overall tone of the film is a bit lighter and not as serious as those films. the heist itself is pretty short and sweet but this movie is more about the planning and the aftermath.

Another great thing about this picture is that even though it's black and white, it's still widescreen adding a nice touch to the look of the film. The only drawback to the DVD is that the picture is quite soft and blurry but for a film of this age and obscurity beggars can't be choosers! Another must see for heist fans (like me!)