Le Doulos (1963)

A burglar betraying other criminals, prepares for a big heist with a trusted friend that might be as untrustworthy as he.

Director:

Jean-Pierre Melville

Writers:

Pierre Lesou (based on the novel by), Jean-Pierre Melville (adaptation)

Stars:

Jean-Paul Belmondo, Serge Reggiani, Jean Desailly

1 nomination.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Jean-Paul Belmondo	...	Silien
Serge Reggiani	...	Maurice Faugel
Jean Desailly	...	Le commissaire Clain
René Lefèvre	...	Gilbert Varnove (as René Lefevre)
Marcel Cuvelier	...	Un inspecteur
Philippe March	...	Jean (as Aimé De March)
Fabienne Dali	...	Fabienne
Monique Hennessy	...	Thérèse
Carl Studer	...	Kern
Christian Lude	...	Le docteur
Jacques De Leon	...	Armand
Jacques Léonard	...	Un inspecteur (as Jack Leonard)
Paulette Breil	...	Anita
Philippe Nahon	...	Remy
Charles Bayard	...	Le vieil homme

Storyline

Burglar Maurice Faugel has just finished his sentence. He murders Gilbert Vanovre, a receiver, and steals the loot of a break-in. He is also preparing a house-breaking, and his friend Silien brings him the needed equipment. But Silien is a police informer ... A movie whose "all characters are two-faced, all characters are false", according to director Jean-Pierre Melville.

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Plot Keywords:

running from police | black and white photography | smoking in bed | ex convict | female frontal nudity | 

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Taglines:

Untamed women would do anything for him...and did!

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Genres:

Crime | Thriller

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Certificate:

Not Rated

Details

Country:

France Italy

Language:

French

Release Date:

2 March 1964 (USA)

Also Known As:

Doulos: The Finger Man

Filming Locations:

Studios Jenner, Rue Jenner, Paris 13, Paris, France

Box Office

Opening Weekend USA:

$9,362, 1 July 2007, Limited Release

Gross USA:

$82,772, 6 January 2008

Company Credits

Production Co:

Compagnia Cinematografica Champion, Rome Paris Films

Technical Specs

Runtime:

108 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Martin Scorsese's favorite gangster movie.

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Goofs

In the night club, the trombonist's slide movements don't match the music on the sound track.

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Connections

Referenced in Les échos du cinéma: Episode #1.50 (1962)

User Reviews

confusing, but stick with it

Trust no one in this convoluted French New Wave thriller, which (on its surface) seems to concern an ex-con who suspects a former partner of duplicity. Every character in the film is looking to double-cross someone, but in the end only the audience is successfully hoodwinked, fooled into attempting to unravel a confusing tangle of unexplained and seemingly unmotivated events, before the jigsaw scenario is cleverly assembled in retrospect. It takes a certain mental alacrity to keep pace with who is plotting what to whom (and why), but the wide-awake will be rewarded with a satisfying solution, although perhaps the final scenes take advantage of one irony too many. Without its complex narrative structure the film would be a more or less straightforward plagiarism of American B-movie crime drama conventions, proving yet again how a skillful imitation can make even the most familiar material fresh again.