Gli scassinatori

...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.

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!

¨The burglars¨ is a good French movie about hold-up with top-notch actors . Azad (Jean-Paul Belmondo) is a delinquent who along with a motley group (Robert Hossein , Renato Salvatori and his girlfriend played by Nicole Calfan) plans a robbing . Azad pretends the perfect robbery recruiting his expert accomplices but a Police Inspector named Amed Zacharia (Omar Shariff) tracks down on them . The hold-up is carefully schemed on the Tasco(Jose Luis Villalonga)'s home .The morning after newspapers publicize ¨Tasco robbed of 1.000.000 in emeralds¨. Meanwhile Azad falls in love with a gorgeous woman (Dyan Cannon). But the bad luck and the corrupt Zacharia does the crime gone awry.

This heist movie packs thrills, emotion, exciting burglary, extraordinary performances , spectacular car chases, and a moving finale . Sensational acting by two big star names, Jean Paul Belmondo and Omar Shariff. Belmondo steals the show , as he runs , bound and leaps ; such as Jackie Chan , he jumps over buses , cars and makes his own stunts . Strong secondary cast as Robert Hossein , Renato Salvatori , Jose Luis Villalonga , among others. Interesting and thrilling screenplay based on a novel by David Goodis , whose books have been frequently adapted on cinema as ¨Street of no return, Shoot the piano player and Dark passage¨ . Atmospheric cinematography by Claude Renoir , though is necessary an urgent remastering . Nice musical score with catching leitmotif composed by the maestro Ennio Morricone and conducted by Bruno Nicolai.

The picture is professionally 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)¨ and ¨Melodie in soul soul¨, both of them with with Jean Gabin and Alain Delon, 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 : Acceptable and passable, a must see for French cinema lovers and Belmond and Shariff fans.

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.

Whether this film was intended as a caper movie or a parody of a caper movie is its chief mystery. Jean-Paul Belmondo plays a super-cool jewel thief bedeviled by Omar Sharif, a super-cool detective. Dyan Cannon, a centerfold model, shows up whenever the improbable script gropes for sexual intrigue. Although based on a novel by David Goodis, a far superior movie was written by the novelist and directed by Paul Wendkos: "The Burglar" (1957), starring Dan Duryea and Jayne Mansfield. Henri Verneuil's version begins, not with character, but with the tiresome employment of what appears to be a Professional Safe-Cracker Tool Kit, from Home Depot. The chase scene seems even more artificial when relevant issues, like who is chasing whom and for what purpose are not revealed. It's typical of the brittle nature of the whole project that much time is spent on what's for dinner and stunts, which must be worked out with such balletic precision, that they seem entirely inorganic to the thin plot. The sadistic homoerotic gun teasing scenes are no fun. At least, we do get a strip-tease from beautiful Pamela Stanford. Oo-la-la! Mercifully, David Goodis, whose intriguing themes are tossed aside in a couple of weak lines, died before this version was born.