Touchez Pas au Grisbi (1954) Touchez pas au grisbi (original title)

Director:

Jacques Becker

Writers:

Albert Simonin (novel)
Jacques Becker (adaptation) ...
(more)

Release Date:

February 1960 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Crime | Drama | Thriller

Plot:

An aging, world-weary gangster is double-crossed and forced out of retirement when his best friend is kidnapped and their stash of eight stolen gold bars demanded as ransom.

Plot Keywords:

Gold | Rival | Partner | Gold Bar | Friend

Awards:

1 win

Cast

Jean Gabin	...	Max dit Max le Menteur
René Dary	...	Henri Ducros dit Riton
Dora Doll	...	Lola
Vittorio Sanipoli	...	Ramon
Marilyn Buferd	...	Betty (as Marilyn Bufferd)
Gaby Basset	...	Marinette
Paul Barge	...	Eugène (as Barge)
Alain Bouvette	...	Le chauffeur de taxi (as Bouvette)
Daniel Cauchy	...	Fifi
Denise Clair	...	Madame Bouche
Angelo Dessy	...	Bastien
Lucilla Solivani	...	Nana, la secrétaire de Pierrot
Michel Jourdan	...	Marco
Paul Oettly	...	Oscar
Jean Riveyre	...	Le portier de l'hôtel Moderna
Delia Scala	...	Hughette, la secrétaire d'Oscar
Silvestri
Lino Ventura	...	Angelo Fraiser
Paul Frankeur	...	Pierrot
Jeanne Moreau	...	Josy
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Charles Bayard	...	M. Dufiond - un danseur (uncredited)
Jean Clarieux	...	Un consommateur chez Bouche (uncredited)
Jean Daurand	...	Un consommateur chez Bouche (uncredited)
Dominique Davray	...	Une prostituée (uncredited)
René Hell	...	Un consommateur chez Bouche (uncredited)
Robert Le Fort	...	Un client (uncredited)

Directed by
Jacques Becker

Writing credits
Albert Simonin		(novel)
Jacques Becker		(adaptation) &
Albert Simonin		(adaptation) &
Maurice Griffe		(adaptation)
Albert Simonin		(dialogue)

Produced by
Robert Dorfmann	....	producer

Original Music by
Jean Wiener

Cinematography by
Pierre Montazel

Film Editing by
Marguerite Renoir

Production Design by
Jean d'Eaubonne

Set Decoration by
Robert Turlure

Costume Design by
Marcelle Desvignes		(uncredited)

Makeup Department
Jean Lalaurette	....	hair stylist
Jean Paul Ulysse	....	makeup artist (as Jean Ulysse)

Production Management
Pierre Bochart	....	production supervisor
Léon Carré	....	production manager
Georges Charlot	....	unit production manager

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Jean Becker	....	first assistant director
Jean-François Hauduroy	....	second assistant director (as J.F. Hauduroy)
Marc Maurette	....	third assistant director

Art Department
Jacques Gut	....	assistant production designer

Sound Department
Jacques Carrère	....	sound (as Jacques Carrere)
Jacques Lebreton	....	sound

Camera and Electrical Department
André Dumaître	....	camera operator
Roland Paillais	....	camera operator

Editorial Department
Denise Charvein	....	assistant editor

Music Department
Liane Augustin	....	playback singer
Ernest Guillon	....	conductor (as Ernest Guillou)
Jerry Mengo	....	orchestra (as Jerry Mengo et son orchestre)
Jean Wetzel	....	musician: harmonica

Other crew
Colette Crochot	....	script supervisor
Lenny Borger	....	english adaptation: 2005 restored version (uncredited)
Mai Harris	....	english subtitles: 2005 restored version (uncredited)

Production Companies

• Del Duca Films
• Antares Produzione Cinematografica

Distributors

• Les Films Corona (1954) (France) (theatrical)
• United Motion Pictures Organization (UMPO) (1959) (USA) (theatrical) (subtitled)
• Valiant Films (1960) (USA) (theatrical) (English dubbed)
• Fox Lorber (1998) (USA) (VHS)
• Century Films (1954) (Belgium) (theatrical)
• Filmart (1956) (Finland) (theatrical)
• Films de France (1956) (UK) (theatrical)
• Oefram Filmverleih (1955) (Austria) (theatrical)
• Schorcht Filmverleih Gmbh (1954) (West Germany) (theatrical)
• Criterion Collection, The (2005) (USA) (DVD)
• Criterion Collection, The (2008) (USA) (DVD)
• Film Office (France) (DVD)
• Optimum Releasing (2007) (UK) (DVD)
• Rialto Pictures (2003) (USA) (re-release)
• StudioCanal (2010) (France) (DVD)

Special Effects

• LAX Lab.

Other Companies

• Pianos Pleyel  piano
• Éditions Barclay  music published by
• Éditions Gallimard  novel published by

Also Known As:

"Touchez pas au grisbi" - France (original title)
"Grisbi" - USA
"Hands Off the Loot" - International (English title) (informal literal title)

Runtime:

94 min | USA:83 min

Country:

France | Italy

Language:

French

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Sound System)

Certification:

Finland:K-12 | Sweden:15 | Argentina:16 | West Germany:18 (nf) | UK:15 (DVD rating, uncut) | UK:X (original rating, cut version) | France:-16 | Finland:K-11 (new rating: 2001) | USA:Not Rated

Filming Locations:

Avenue Frochot, Paris 9, Paris, France

Company:

Del Duca Films

Trivia:

Italian censorship visa #17225 delivered on 19 September 1954.

Goofs:

Continuity: When the submachine guns are removed from the wine box, they are Sten Submachine guns. When they are removed from the car after the ambush they are Sten Guns. When they are finally shot at the retreating gangsters, they have become two different models of Thompson Submachine guns, an early civilian model of a Thompson and a military model (M1 or M1A1) of a Thompson.

Quotes:

Max:That's the trouble with young people - they're so doggone young!

Movie Connections:

Referenced in 2 x 50 Years of French Cinema (1995)

Superb French Noir

Max(Jean Gabin) is a gentleman gangster with a penchant for nice suits and champagne and the brains of the criminal partnership, the other being his long time friend and partner in crime, Riton (René Dary),"the muscle" so to speak of their partnership, together they have just pulled off a substantial heist and are now 50 million francs better off in gold bars. Max likes the easy life of night clubs and restaurants, he isn't greedy and now intends to retire with his fortune, Riton agrees, but he inadvertently tells his young night club dancer girlfriend Josy (Jeanne Moreau)of his large stash of Grisbi(Loot/Swag), she has been two timing him with the much younger and very ambitious crook Angelo, Josy of course informs him and using this knowledge Angelo sets out to take it from Max. Max suspicious that he is being followed confides in Riton that something is about to happen,he also tells his old friend how he discovered Josy's infidelity, Riton is furious and leaves Max's safe haven to take revenge on his younger adversary.Riton ends up in a trap and is kidnapped by Angelo, demanding Max release the gold as ransom. Touchez pas au grisbi isn't so much an action crime flic as it is a no action one, we never get to see the heist or the every day violence of the criminal fraternity, Becker's film is much more about the silences between the crimes and the everyday mundaneness of the criminals life, their conversations, their dining habits etc… this ploy is all the more effective when the film explodes at its climax with the type of violence you would expect of a typical Crime film. A forerunner of Dassin's Rififi or more obviously Melville's Bob Le Flambeur, Touchez pas au Grisbi is a fine film that some might find a little dull, but its romantic vision of Parisien criminal lives is still very intriguing and a welcome alternative to the stereotypical hoods of the genre. Gabin is nothing short of superb as the aging gangster, willing to give up his position and power for the easy life, his relationship with his loyal friend Riton is more like that of a married couple who are still friends after many years together but ultimately wonder why they ever got together, we are only given one glimpse of Max's rage towards his friend in a brief voice over, where Max lets fly at his companions stupidity, that might cost them both their lives and their Grisbi, other than that Max is a cool operator, nothing fazes him, even as the plot thickens and a quick response is required to save Riton's life, Max is just as easy going as he always is, he might just as easily be at home brushing his teeth or folding his pyjamas again, we never quite know what Max is thinking. The understated pate eating scene is superbly orchestrated by Becker ,there is hardly any dialogue but through gestures and eye movements, we learn an awful lot about their relationship…..Touchez pas au Grisbi in the hands of Becker is both elegant and evocative and a pleasure to behold and as French Noir goes its right up there with the best.