Grisbi (1960)

Grisbi isn't the hero's name but a bit of French slang meaning "loot," which is what drives this elegant Gallic crime thriller. Jean Gabin (Grand Illusion) stars as Max, a suave, smooth, elder statesman of a gangster who still manages to hook a pretty young damsel on his arm when he strolls into his favorite restaurants and nightclubs. Max belongs to the old world of criminals, where a romantic code of loyalty rules, but he's confronted by the postwar generation of ruthless, ambitious thugs when affable drug dealer and aspiring mob boss Angelo (Lino Ventura) discovers the secret of his loot. He strikes at Max's weak link, his thickheaded best friend and partner Riton (René Dary) and delivers an ultimatum: the money or the man. Director Jacques Becker (Antoine et Antoinette) takes his time with the tale, turning such digressions as a simple meal or an informal consultation into a fully realized scene with a rhythm and a drama all its own. He also enriches the film with a wonderful gallery of characters (including a small but delightful turn by young Jeanne Moreau as a pouty gold-digging chorus girl). The film sometimes dawdles but never drags, and every scene is energized by Gabin's cagey, confident Max, a worldly figure of grace and dignity who turns ruthless when a friend's life is at stake. --Sean Axmaker Amazon.com

The Ultimate French Gangster Movie

Jean Gabin has always been my favorite actor (he should be; I wrote a book about him -- WORLD'S COOLEST MOVIE STAR), and this is really the consummate 'later period' Gabin movie.

Most Americans know Jean Gabin only from a handful of films which he made in the '30s, his "matinee idol" period when he played movie history's consummate tragic drifter. But in the 1950s, '60s, and '70s, he played the ultimate 'classy' gentleman-gangster -- a definite progenitor of Vito Corleone -- and director Jacques Becker's "Touchez pas au grisbi" ("Hands of the Loot") knocks it out of the park. If you like French noir movies like "Rififi" and "Bob Le Flambeur," this picture is just as wonderful.

Aside from the requisite action sequences, director Jacques Becker (Renoir's A.D. on "Les Bas-fonds," "La Grande illusion," and "La Bete humaine") wisely alternates the action with some finely nuanced scenes between the characters, scenes which really make them genuine and 'real' to the viewer.

I can't recommend Touches pas au grisbi" highly enough. It should be part of every serious cineaste's DVD collection. October 22, 2008

Act Your Age

Jean Gabin is sensational as a dapper old Parisian gangster who knows when his bedtime is. Not so his lovelorn buddy who lets slip to his younger showgirlfriend Jeanne Moreau about their last haul. When dope-dealing lug Lino Ventura catches wind and plots to rip them off, it's time for Gabin to start slapping people.

Great scenes of Paris at night coupled with a terrific score make this a thrilling entertainment. And the picture looks stunning on this DVD.

It's amazing to think that Lino had never acted before this -- he's effortlessly menacing here. But this is Gabin's show. He's tough but oddly lovable too. Never has the criminal urge to kick back and enjoy the good life seemed less cliche and more poignant. August 30, 2008

A Giant of French Cinema.

There are not many words by which to describe the awesome 'combination' of the Sir Laurence Olivier/Marlon Brando 'version' of One of the most well-accomplished French Actors, ever to 'explode' upon the Silver Screen, the magnificent, Jean Gabin. This motion picture "Touchez Pas au Grisbi", is, about loyalty, the macho camaraderie binding the 'participants', as well as the unwritten law of never 'grassing up' your 'mates.' The word "loyalty" which is the clear message this film conveys, suggests, that, any man who is disloyal, lacks in character, and, basic moral fibre. Should this be the case, then, 'he'; is 'no good' to his friends, or to; anybody else. February 23, 2008

Money makes the (under)world go round...

A classic! Don't miss it!
Un classique à ne pas manquer. January 5, 2007

masculine loneliness

Yes, it is about gangsters. But to any Continental old enough to have seen this movie first in a small suburban movie theater full of smoke (when the basic idea was 'I will grow up and do this kind of things'), then to have seen it again in late night showings on a black-and-white TV (when it was already slightly fading away, towards nostalgia), and finally in poor VHS and in the admirable Criterion edition, it will be mostly about growing old, and experiencing that specific form of loneliness that is one of the glories of old males. Eating a leftover terrine of foie gras with a baguette in the company of an old friend may be more quintessential to spirit of this movie than any crime scene. September 28, 2006

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