A Cop (1972)
"Un flic" (original title)

Bank robbery in small town ends with one of the robbers being wounded. The loot from the robbery is just a asset for the even more spectacular heist. Simon, gang leader and Paris night club... See full summary »

Director:

Jean-Pierre Melville

Writer:

Jean-Pierre Melville

Stars:

Alain Delon, Richard Crenna, Catherine Deneuve

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Alain Delon	...	Commissaire Edouard Coleman
Richard Crenna	...	Simon
Catherine Deneuve	...	Cathy
Riccardo Cucciolla	...	Paul Weber
Michael Conrad	...	Louis Costa
Paul Crauchet	...	Morand
Simone Valère	...	Paul's wife
André Pousse	...	Marc Albouis
Jean Desailly	...	Distinguished gentleman who was robbed a statue
Valérie Wilson	...	Gaby
Henri Marteau	...	Police officer instructor of shooting
Catherine Rethi
Louis Grandidier
Philippe Gasté	...	Un policier
Dominique Zentar

Storyline

Bank robbery in small town ends with one of the robbers being wounded. The loot from the robbery is just a asset for the even more spectacular heist. Simon, gang leader and Paris night club owner, must also deal with police comissaire Edouard Colemane, who happens to be his good friend.

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Plot Keywords:

robbery | gang | bank robbery | police | bank | 

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Genres:

Action | Crime | Thriller

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Certificate:

PG

Details

Country:

France Italy

Language:

French

Release Date:

1975 (USA)

Also Known As:

Dirty Money

Filming Locations:

Splendid Hôtel, 54 Rue Fondary, Paris 15, Paris, France

Box Office

Opening Weekend:

$10,341 (USA) (19 April 2013)

Gross:

$24,333 (USA) (26 April 2013)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Euro International Film (EIA), Oceania Produzioni Internazionali Cinematografiche

Technical Specs

Runtime:

98 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The opening shot closely resembles Hokusai's famous woodcut "The Wave".

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Quotes

Commissaire Edouard Coleman: People will do the wrong thing, they always do.

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Connections

Referenced in Le petit lieutenant (2005)

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Soundtracks

"C'est Ainsi que les Choses Arrivent"
Written by Michel Colombier
Lyrics by Charles Aznavour
Performed by Isabelle Aubret

User Reviews

very stylish

What takes place occurs in a determined and efficient manner, and things don't always go according to plan, but the participants resolutely carry out their assignments. The opening bank robbery is a prime example: a taciturn group of five men led by Richard Crenna rob a seaside bank on a very windy and rainy day. They're all business, from the drive up the street, to each member leaving the car at timed intervals, into the rain and wind, and walking into the bank. When the job starts to go bad, they finish as best they can and drive off into the storm. Later, Crenna is lowered from a helicopter onto a moving train in the middle of the night in order to rob a bag man of the drugs he's carrying. No one says a word, it's all action. It may be laughably fake looking, but it's done very seriously, even when Crenna combs his hair not out of vanity but in order to look less suspicious. This is the mood Melville perfected and Walter Hill recreated so well in The Driver. It's very stripped down, deliberate, and spontaneous. The actors don't say too much, the violence is extremely matter of fact, and everyone goes off into the sunset in their own existential worlds if they don't die first. Which isn't to say that there isn't a story here, there is, one concerning Crenna and cop Alain Delon, and Catherine Denueve, and enough character development to flesh out Crenna's associates quite well, each of them, while also providing for a great dancing scene in Crenna's night club, his strained friendship with Delon, Delon's almost fatalistic approach to policing, all done without the benefit of many words, just a director with a certain style and aesthetic, a very good camera man, and a nice soundtrack.