Mélodie en sous-sol (1963)

Director:

Henri Verneuil

Writers:

Michel Audiard (dialogue)
Zekial Marko (novel)

Release Date:

19 March 1963 (France)

Genre:

Crime | Drama | Romance

Tagline:

A crime so big it cost a fortune just to commit It!

Plot:

Charles (Jean Gabin), a sixtyish career criminal fresh out of jail, rejects his wife's plan for a quiet life of bourgeois respectability...

Plot Keywords:

Casino | Cannes | Career Criminal | Vault | Caper

Awards:

1 win & 1 nomination

Cast

  (Complete credited cast)

Jean Gabin	...	Charles
Alain Delon	...	Francis Verlot
Claude Cerval	...	Le commissaire de police
Viviane Romance	...	Ginette
Henri Virlojeux	...	Mario (as Henri Virlogeux)
Jean Carmet	...	Le barman
José Luis de Villalonga	...	M. Grimp (as José-Luis de Vilallonga)
Rita Cadillac	...	Liliane
Jimmy Davis	...	Sam
Dominique Davray	...	Léone
Dora Doll	...	Countess Doublianoff
Germaine Montero	...	Mme Verlot (as Germaine Montéro)
Maurice Biraud	...	Louis Naudin
Carla Marlier	...	Brigitte

Also Known As:

Any Number Can Win (USA)
Anyone Can Win
Big Grab
Colpo grosso al casino (Italy)
The Big Snatch (UK)

Runtime:

118 min | France:103 min (color version)

Country:

France | Italy

Language:

French | English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Westrex Recording System)

Certification:

Finland:K-16

Filming Locations:

Cannes, Alpes-Maritimes, France

Company:

Cité Films

Trivia:

The entire heist sequence lasts 26 and half minutes, and has very little dialogue.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in La très très grande entreprise (2008)

Soundtrack:

Theme from Any Number Can Win

BIG SNATCH is an awesome French classic about hold-up with top-notch actors

Charles(a magnificent Jean Gavin) is a mature delinquent recently released from prison. He renounces the plans his wife(Viviane Romance) about a simple and easy life. Charles pretends the perfect robbery recruiting previous cell-mate named Francis(Alain Delon, actor most often used in Verneuil films) . The hold-up is carefully schemed on the vault of Cannes casino in the French Riviera. Meanwhile Francis falls in love with a gorgeous baller dancer(Rita Cadillac). Francis wielding a machine gun and black masked hides himself on the elevator shaft and heads to basement where is the locker room. But the bad luck does the crime gone awry.

This heist movie packs thrills, emotion, romance, extraordinaries performances and exciting finale burglary. Sensational acting by two big star names, Gabin and Delon. Strong secondary cast with Viviane Romance as the spouse, Jean Carmet as barman and the Spanish Jose Luis De Villalonga as Casino chief. Interesting and thrilling screenplay by the prestigious Michael Audiard based on novel by Zekial Marko. Atmospheric cinematography in black and white by Louis Page. Lively musical score with catching leitmotif composed and conducted by Michael Magne.

The picture is splendidly 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)¨ also with Gabin and Delon, ¨The burglars(1971)¨with Omar Shariff and Jean Paul Belmondo , 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 : Exceptional and above average, a must see for French cinema lovers and Gavin and Delon fans.