Cent briques et des tuiles

A bunch of hoodlums pulls a heist in a big department store in Paris but an incident happens and the loot is robbed by another bunch of hoods, young hoods. So, you have two gangs on the same heist. Pierre Clementi is here one of the young hoods, the nearly same kind of character he will have a couple of years later in BRIGADE ANTI-GANGS, which is a crime film and not a comedy. In this latest film, he also plays a young gangster involved with big and very ruthless ones. But that's another story. Back to this one, I did not know it and it's worthwhile to waste one hour and a half.

The first thing to be said about this film is that it ought to be a great deal better. It is, quite simply, a terrible waste of a good cast. A gang of criminals rob a department store on Christmas Eve and get a lot of money. Somehow or other they contrive to spill something on the cash that requires washing – not quite what we know as 'money laundering' today – and while its hanging up to dry in their villa hiding place, the police arrive. The police, however, are actually in pursuit of an escaped animal but, to use a phrase that is found in the descriptions of so many comedies, 'hilarity ensues.' Unfortunately, it doesn't. It is the best part of the film, but it's near the end and there's a good chance that many viewers will have switched off by then. Jean-Claude Brialy looks completely out of place playing the tough leader of the criminals; Marie Laforet almost seems to sleepwalk through her part and Sophie Daumier adds a touch of glamour as one of the young delinquents who join the gang. The talents of dependable performers such as Michel Serrault, Albert Rémy, Pierre Clémenti and Madeleine Barbulée are pretty much wasted on a comedy with few laughs. If you have a painted wall that is going to take 90 minutes to dry, then it may be more entertaining to watch this film – other than that, don't bother.