Trois milliards sans ascenseur

Caper thrillers were a Film Noir staple; however, the delightful Italian spoof BIG DEAL ON MADONNA STREET (1958) ushered in a wave of light-hearted treatments of the subject. Another highlight of the latter approach is SEVEN GOLDEN MEN (1965), on whose title many variations began to appear – including the Italian moniker, SEVEN BRAINS FOR A PERFECT CAPER, devised for the title under review; that said, it is far closer in spirit to BIG DEAL – since the characters are essentially incompetent small-time crooks. Anyway, this French-Italian co-production was completely unknown to me before its recent broadcast on late-night Italian TV; however, given the theme and impressive cast list (Michel Bouquet, Marcel Bozzuffi, Gabriele Ferzetti, Serge Reggiani, Francosie Rosay, etc.), I made it a point to check it out – and, while no classic, it proved a considerably enjoyable addition (thanks, in no small measure, to Teo Usuelli's jaunty score) to a prolific but eminently watchable genre. Amusingly, the film starts with Bozzuffi and Reggiani uttering individual swear words – cursing their fate and, by extension, each other (which actually becomes something of a running-gag between them); Bozzuffi is the brains of the outfit and, in fact, he drops the gang (also comprising fallen aristocrat Bouquet, as well as working-class men Bernard Fresson and Amidou) to try his luck with bigwig Ferzetti, for which he is callously rejected as small fry. Ferzetti, however, ends up hoist by his own petards: when the gang fail at stealing a collection of Europe's most prized jewels (kept inside the top floor of a skyscraper, to which they climb via an endless internal interconnected stairway!) due to amateur electrician Bouquet's flawed alarm-defusing system, Bozzuffi turns once again to the kingpin – who, naturally cannot resist the opportunity of sending his own hoods to do the job…after which the proceeds are stolen from him by Bozzuffi & Co., who make away with the safe in toto!! Even so, they still contrive to 'lose' the loot to the cops – but, this being a comedy, their hopes are set upwards once again by the finale as matriarch Rosay directs their attention to an advert of yet another set of jewels about to be displayed in town (soon after being evicted from her once stately house, a further step in the all-consuming modernization which has come to embody Progress)

It could be compared with the recent films, including one starring Michael Caine and Tom Courtenay, about a bunch of old timers and petty hoods who carried away a jewel bullion after a major heist; comedies too. Very typical from the early seventies, music score, settings,atmosphere, acting, dialogue. Of course it is voluntarily clumsy, tongue in cheek. Yes, despite this we have here a excellent nostalgia feature also speaking of the destruction of old mansions and buildings of near Paris suburb; a kind of lost era. We see caterpillars, bulldozers in work, as we also watched in the movie LE CHAT, made at the same time, starring Jean Gabin and Simone Signoret, a movie also taking place in the very same district; Courbevoie, now the setting of La Defense district, the equivalent of Los Angeles Century City; only big business, huge companies, buildings that replaced the old districts. Listen to the music, so typical from this period, my childhood.

Director Roger Pigaut was once one of the most famous romantic male leads of the French forties : "douce" (Autant-Lara) is a masterpiece ,and Christian Jaque's "sortilèges" and Becker's "Antoine et Antoinette " are not far behind . As a silver screen actor, his career was on the wane in the sixties and he became a director :his first effort "le cerf-volant du bout du monde" was aimed at the children's market ,and his third one "compte à rebours " a thriller which featured creme de la creme of French actors : Jeanne Moreau ,Simone Signoret,Serge Reggiani, Michel Bouquet,Marcel Bozzuffi and Amidou; the male actors are featured again in "trois milliards sans ascenseurs ", but the atmosphere is downright different .Whereas "comptes à rebours" was dramatic, this one is a spoof on thrillers which involve jewels thefts .

Most of the actors are middle-age ,and even the old generation is present ,represented by glorious Françoise Rosay in one of her last parts.The lines are often witty, and one feels the rapport ,the camaraderie they have between us ; this is ,should we believe the screenwriters ,the new age of robbery :scientific plans to thwart the high electronic technology supposed to protect the precious stones .The first "attempt" is a good idea,which creates an unexpected twist and ,not to let the cat out of the bag,I 'm not going to write more.