Rififi (1955)

Four men plan a technically perfect crime, but the human element intervenes...

Director:

Jules Dassin

Writers:

Auguste Le Breton (novel), Jules Dassin (adaptation)

Stars:

Jean Servais, Carl Möhner, Robert Manuel

6 wins & 1 nomination.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Jean Servais	...	Tony le Stéphanois
Carl Möhner	...	Jo le Suedois
Robert Manuel	...	Mario Ferrati
Janine Darcey	...	Louise
Pierre Grasset	...	Louis Grutter aka Louis le Tatoué
Robert Hossein	...	Remi Grutter
Marcel Lupovici	...	Pierre Grutter
Dominique Maurin	...	Tonio
Magali Noël	...	Viviane
Marie Sabouret	...	Mado les Grands Bras
Claude Sylvain	...	Ida Ferrati
Jules Dassin	...	Cesar le Milanais (as Perlo Vita)
Armandel	...	Second Gambler
Alain Bouvette	...	Footman, 'L'Age D'Or'
Alice Garan

Storyline

After five years in prison, Tony le Stéphanois meets his dearest friends Jo and the Italian Mario Ferrati and they invite Tony to steal a couple of jewels from the show-window of the famous jewelry Mappin & Webb Ltd, but he declines. Tony finds his former girlfriend Mado, who became the lover of the gangster owner of the night-club L' Âge d' Or Louis Grutter, and he humiliates her, beating on her back for being unfaithful. Then he calls Jo and Mario and proposes a burglary of the safe of the jewelry. They invite the Italian specialist in safes and elegant wolf Cesar to join their team and they plot a perfect heist. They are successful in their plan, but the Don Juan Cesar makes things go wrong when he gives a valuable ring to his mistress.

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Plot Keywords:

heist | burglary | power drill | security system | hole in the floor | 

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Taglines:

["Rififi"] ...means Trouble!

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Genres:

Crime | Thriller

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Certificate:

Not Rated

Details

Country:

France

Language:

French Italian English

Release Date:

5 June 1956 (USA)

Also Known As:

Rififi

Filming Locations:

Pont de Bir-Hakeim, Paris 15, Paris, France

Box Office

Opening Weekend USA:

$17,981, 23 July 2000, Limited Release

Gross USA:

$57,226, 29 November 2015

Company Credits

Production Co:

Pathé Consortium Cinéma,Indusfilms,Société Nouvelle Pathé Cinéma

Technical Specs

Runtime:

118 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Sound System)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The film is included on Roger Ebert's "Great Movies" list.

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Goofs

When they get in the car to drive to the heist, one of the guy's coats partially hangs out of the car when the door is closed. However, when they're driving there is no coat to be seen.

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Quotes

Jo le Suedois: Don't cry, he just learned some women have guts.

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Connections

Referenced in Thorns (2002)

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Soundtracks

Le Rififi
Music by Philippe-Gérard
Lyrics by Jacques Larue
Performed by Magali Noël

User Reviews

It's not just the heist scene

Rififi deservedly gets a lot of mention for the famous heist scene, and, indeed, that scene deserves all the credit it gets. It's a masterful piece of suspense, character interaction and photography. But Rififi isn't just this one scene - every scene in the film is as masterfully put together, and as a whole, the film is not only taught with suspense, plot and character, but an adroitly told moral tale that set the scene for film noire for years to come.

Cinematically and technically, the heist sequence may be the most impressive scene of the film, but for me, it's the final scene that holds the most power - Tony le Stéphanois's hallucinogenic drive towards redemption.