Blood on the Streets (1974)

Marseille. Heaps of flowers and funeral wreaths... "A man who no longer defends his colors is no longer a man."

Director:

Jacques Deray

Writer:

Pascal Jardin (scenario)

Stars:

Alain Delon, Riccardo Cucciolla, Daniel Ivernel

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Alain Delon	...	Roch Siffredi
Riccardo Cucciolla	...	Volpone
Daniel Ivernel	...	Inspector Fanti
Reinhard Kolldehoff	...	Sam (as René Kolldehoff)
André Falcon	...	Inspector Cazenave
Lionel Vitrant	...	Fernand
Adolfo Lastretti	...	Luciano
Greg Germain	...	Le 'Nègre'
Pierre Koulak	...	Spada
Marius Laurey	...	Teissere
Serge Davri	...	Charlie
Günter Meisner	...	Le médecin
Jacques Debary	...	Le préfet
Djéloul Beghoura	...	Lucien (as Djelloul Beghoura)
Anton Diffring

Storyline

It's the early 1930s. Working their way up the ladder largely on chutzpah, Roch Sifreddi and François Capella, who became best friends in their unlikely partnership, have risen to the top of the organized crime world in Marseilles. Shortly after reaching the top, Capella is murdered. Sifreddi eventually learns that the murder was orchestrated by international businessman Giovanni Volpone, new to Marseilles from Italy, he whose ultimate goal is to take control of the city in all aspects, legal and illegal. While Sifreddi sees Volpone's action as the start of a gangland war, Volpone has other thoughts in sending a longer lasting message to Sifreddi and others who may want to fill his shoes. Volpone has specific reasons for wanting Marseilles, it a war he will want to wage in most of the western world to reach his end goal. Standing by Sifreddi in this war is Lola, a former prostitute friend to both Sifreddi and Capella, she who was Capella's girlfriend at the time of his death, and ...

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Plot Keywords:

gangster | street shootout | title ends with period | punctuation in title | period in title | 

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Genres:

Crime | Drama | Action

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Certificate:

Not Rated

Details

Country:

France Italy West Germany

Language:

French

Release Date:

23 October 1974 (France)

Also Known As:

Blood on the Streets

Company Credits

Production Co:

Adel Productions, Comacico, Medusa Distribuzione

Technical Specs

Runtime:

110 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1

Did You Know?

Goofs

A newspaper announces : "Déchéance de de Monsieur Roch Siffredi". In French it should be "Déchéance de Monsieur Roch Siffredi".

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Quotes

[last lines in the English subtitled version]
[Sifreddi and Fernand are standing on an outside deck of an ocean liner as they sail to America]
Fernand: No regrets?
Roch Siffredi: I never regret anything.
Fernand: America's big. We don't know anyone there.
Roch Siffredi: I do.
Fernand: Oh.
[Sifreddi and Fernand, walking into one of the lounges where dance music is playing, sit down at the bar]
Bartender: Monsieur?
Roch Siffredi: Champagne.
[...]

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Connections

Follows Borsalino (1970)

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Soundtracks

Arts Déco
Written and Performed by Claude Bolling

User Reviews

Original and creative

For those who enjoy 'the Godfather' and the Sicilian landscapes, Borsalino & Co. is a different view of French gangsterism in the South of France around the 1930's. Alain Delon plays the lead character of Roch Siffredi, a gangster who must fend his empire against the Italian mob who tries to muscle its way through Roch Siffredi's territory and enterprises. How Roch is able to fight back and make an unprecedented comeback while exacting his vengeance on the Italian mob is most original and Machiavellian.

Bottom line, revenge is sweet, and the movie makes great effort in recreating a 1930's decor. The background music and the theme song are particularly enjoying.