Les intouchables

This mobster film titled ¨Gli Intoccabili¨ or ¨Machine Gun McCain¨ (1969) talks about a just-released gangster called Hank McCain played by John Cassavetes who is pitch-perfect and Britt Ekland has a big part in this suspenseful movie . As a tough criminal called Hank (John Cassavetes) goes out from prison (it was shot at San Quentin Prison without permits) , being received by his son . One time being released from jail , two-fisted criminal Hank hooks up with his son Jack , who has assembled a gang for one robbing . As they attempt to rob a Mafia-controlled casino in Las Vegas . Unbeknownst to Hank , Jack is also involved with a mobster (Peter Falk) who utilizes Hank as a pawn so he can gain control of Vegas territory that's ordinarily being run by the boss Don Francesco De Marco (Gabriele Ferzetti) ; at the same time , the latter is under orders of Don Salvatore (Salvo Randone) . In the meantime , Hank falls in love for a young woman called Irene Tucker (Britt Ekland) and marries her in a rapid wedding in Las Vegas .

This stirring film contains suspense , action , sharp-edged set pieces , thrilling situations and terrific performance by a plethora of known main actors as well as sensational supporting cast . A very moving plot with a misfit group planning a suspenseful heist . A realistic treatment glamorizes nothing and implicates the small-time thieves , capos , and big bosses . Including some car pursuits that were shot in two days without permits using rented automobiles . The movie is slickly narrated in original manner by means of various twists , red herrings , puzzles , jigsaw , in which the main protagonist has devised a daring plan that goes awry and it finally results to be a total disaster . The picture displays usual elements noir cinema like the fatalism and tragic fate , twisted intrigue and loser characters . But the movie belongs to John Cassavetes as the public enemy who earned the alias 'The Machine Gun MacCan' , also named Hank McCain who gets released from prison after serving twelve years for armed robbery . Montalvo realized for Paramount this ¨Machine Gun MacCan¨ along with ¨Grand Slam¨ that bear remarkable resemblance , both of them deal with spectaculars hold-ups . These films received great recognition and were widely appreciated by the international public , getting big box office . Filmmaker Montalvo usually worked with an international cast , and in Machine Gun MacCan reunites some of the best actors that worked in the sixties and seventies . John Cassavetes is the first among equals from extraordinary cast . The cluster of magnificent players give extraordinary interpretations . As exceptional acting by Peter Falk as volatile and ambitious mob capo Charlie Adamo , a ringleader marvellously incarnated by Gabriele Ferzetti , Tony Kendall as ruthless killer , Florinda Bolkan , Luigi Pistilli , Val Avery , Salvo Randone as Don Salvatore and there stands out Gena Rowlands , as a lovely ¨Femme Fatale¨ . Colorful cinematography in Techniscope , but a perfect remastering being necessary . Special mention for musical score by maestro Ennio Morricone who composes a rousing and sensitive score , including wonderful ballads , adding the catching song titled ¨the ballad of MacCan¨ sung by Jackie Lynton .

The motion picture was professionally directed by Giuliano Montalvo who realizes an adequate piece of film-making , though has some flaws and gaps . Montavo is a good craftsman whose films have been shown in several nations , and won various Festival Awards and Emmy Awards . Other prizes worldwide for cinematography , production design and costumes were received in his movies , throughout a long career . His beginnings were as a directing assistant , as he made the second unit of Pontecorvo's masterpiece ¨The Battle Of Algiers¨ . After having filmed for Paramount the heist movie ¨Ad Ogni Osto¨ (1967) and this ¨Machine Gun MacCain¨ in the US, then Montaldo went back to Italy to direct ¨Gott Mit Uns¨ or ¨The Fifth Day Of Peace¨ (1969). Montalvo's experience reveals a turning point in his work in the famous politic film : ¨Sacco E Vanzetti¨ , it stars Gian Maria Volonte and Riccardo Cucciolla , that participated in competition at Cannes Film Festival , where it won Best Actor 1971 and ¨Giordano Bruno¨ (1973) also starred by Volonte . These pictures were well acclaimed by the reviewers , achieved awesome critiques and great successes at various film festivals around the world . The theme of the Resistance underlined ¨L'Agnese Va A Morire¨ directed by Montaldo in 1977 . In 1980 the director engaged in the production of a television series about the exploration of ¨Marco Polo¨ with Ken Marshall that was filmed in Italy, the Middle East, Tibet, Mongolia and China ; being an international co-production with RAI, BBC and NBC . Other films he directed are ¨Circuito Chiuso¨ that was in competition at the Berlinale in 1978 , ¨Il Giocattolo¨ , ¨Gli Occhiali D'Oro¨ or "The Gold Rimmed Glasses", ¨Il Giorno Prima¨ or ¨Project¨ , ¨L'Industriale¨ , ¨Tempo Di Uccidere¨ or "Time to Kill" and ¨Demoni Di San Pietroburgo¨ or " The Demons of St. Petersburg" .

John Cassavetes is supremely cool as the protagonist of this glittery 60s crime flick. Directed with gusto by Giuliano Montaldo, it has Cassavetes as the tough title character, an armed robber getting out of prison after a dozen year stretch. Almost immediately, McCains' pathetic son Jack (Pierluigi Apra) is recruiting him for a job. But McCain is agreeable, despite having some misgivings about who he's working with. The job is the robbery of the Royal Casino in Las Vegas, a place that's hotly contested by both the West Coast and East Coast mob families.

This well-paced film is quite enjoyable in general. All the fighting between various mobsters is good for some amusement, with the great Peter Falk scoring as an ambitious mafioso who's eager to make some real dough. Britt Ekland doesn't have to do much besides look very sexy as a young woman who catches McCains' eye. Cassavetes' real-life partner Gena Rowlands makes a special guest appearance as an old flame, and naturally he has more genuine chemistry with her than he does Ekland. Other top notch character actors include Gabriele Ferzetti, Luigi Pistilli, and Steffen Zacharias, and lovers of Euro-cult cinema will note the presence of thespians such as Florinda Bolkan (as Falk's wife), Tony Kendall, and Salvo Randone. But other than Falk, it's starring actor Cassavetes who is the main reason to watch. A sardonic, witty, surly guy (with an obvious contempt for his son), he's a compulsively watchable antihero.

You add to that the excellent widescreen photography, the stunning, colourful locales, some very satisfying explosions, a riveting chase finale wherein you see the lead character literally afraid for his life, and yet another superb Ennio Morricone soundtrack, and you have the makings of a good, solid film of this type.

Seven out of 10.

Old school crime film with hard case armed robber John Cassavetes at its centre. John plays Hank, once part of a Bonnie and Clyde type duo who's spent twelve years in the joint. His son, who's basically a stranger to him, springs him from the clink to take part in another heist - this one being the robbery of a classy casino in Vegas.

This casino is the centre of a complicated business involving newly appointed mob boss Peter Falk, who has taken over mafia duties on the West coast from a guy who was killed in front of his kids. His New York mob superiors have told Peter not to touch anything in Vegas, and they are enraged that he's muscling in on a casino he doesn't know they own. Worse still, Peter seems unaware that his young wife (a big-haired Florinda Bolkan) seems to have a past with one of the New York mob bosses...

In between not trusting his son, really not trusting the two goons his son is hanging about with, and preparing for the heist, John somehow still manages the time to romance Britt Ekland, who really is the only innocent person in the film. Nevertheless, she also gets caught up in all the double crossing and (in one case literal) back stabbing as the cast is whittled down.

Apart from The Dirty Dozen (a film that spawned several thousand Italian rip-offs) I don't know much about John Cassavetes, but he makes a pretty convincing gangster, and who doesn't want to see Colombo in an Italian crime film? I'd pretty much watch Peter Falk in anything, so seeing him on screen with Italian genre regulars Luigi Pistilli and Florinda Bolkan just ticks all the boxes for me. Tony Kendall usually shows up in Spaghetti Westerns, but manages to stand out here as a suave button-man hunting down Cassavetes.

This film has two other things going for it - the nice cinematography that captures the Californian atmosphere (as well as the harsh sunlight invading interior scenes) and Ennio Morricone's melancholy soundtrack. Keep in mind this an old school Eurocrime film that is a bit more classy than the trashy, over the top ones of the seventies. I prefer those, for the record.

I just recently got Drive-in Classics channel and it was the best decision of my life. Why? Because I get to see rare movies from the genres and eras long forgotten by most. This was one of those movies. Peter Falk stands out most in this movie just like he does in any of his movies. He's a mobster, a ruthless one at that and takes the cake for number one on my list of bad asses. If you ever get a chance to pick this up in a store or see it on TV then watch it and enjoy it. You'll never regret that decision.

For style, Ennio Morricone's great score and Peter Falk. I give this movie 10/10.

An ex-con with explosives experience gets back into the swing of things when he lines up a job to rob a Mafia run casino in Las Vegas. With John Cassavetes in the lead one would think this film would be more available than merely catching it by luck on TCM on their midnight Underground Cinema showcase. Though the production is more or less lower budget and the spoken words don't exactly line up with the movement of the lips, it's nonetheless vintage 60's crime with Cassavetes as great as ever, and Peter Falk playing the casino manager and lower level Mafiosi. There are some neat scenes of the San Francisco night life, and the action shifts to the Las Vegas strip with Cassavetes and his new bride Arlene (Britt Eklund) and the ruthless revenge of the Mafia as the movie becomes a pretty dark chase film through LA with Gena Rowlands getting a tough little part as the vise tightens.