Montmartre criminal class uniquely describes an underworld of afterhour cafés, The Scratch, and Hands off the Loot!, the unrenderable argot of the Variously Anglicized as Don’t Touch the Dough, Bury Publisher of translated American crime novels and their hardboiled domesticĬounterparts, Albert Simonin’s 1953 thriller Touchez pas au grisbiīrought the manicured, mannered, and miscreant denizens of Paris’s 18 th Arrondisement to the screen in director Jacques Becker’s influentialįilm adaptation. STREET DATE: AUGUST 13 TH, 2019/KINO LORBER STUDIO CLASSICSįrom the pages of S érie Noire, the French postwar

The film was beautifully shot by Pierre Montazel (Razzia sur la chnouf, 1955) and Kino’s release included audio commentary from film critic Nick Pinkerton and interviews with the director’s son, Jean Becker (also a notable director), Jeanne Moreau ad film critic Ginette Vincendeau.Jean Gabin Stylishly Embodies Montmartre Criminal Underworld Kino Lorber presents Touchez Pas au Grisbi in 1.37:1 as part of its Studio Classics. The film is based on a novel by Albert Simonin and Gabin would star in several adaptations of his works, including Any Number Can Win (1963) and Pasha (1968). Jeanne Moreau as the backstabbing fresh-faced moll is also an immortal highlight, but it’s Gabin and the film’s tone and look which remain timelessly chic. The love interest here is his friendship with Riton, and adds an unusual angle to Touchez Pas au Grisbi, which was directed superbly by Jacques Becker (who may be equally well remembered for his final film, 1960’s Le Trou). Gabin is in top form here, playing an archetype of the aged gangster on his last big deal before such a trope had become a rote cliché. The result is a tempestuous showdown with a fiery end for these rival gangsters and the loot, which does eventually become untouchable. In short, Angelo kidnaps Riton and demands the gold bars as ransom, knowing Max won’t leave his best friend out to dry. Josy, supposedly the girlfriend of Riton, is fooling around with another gangster, Angelo (Lino Ventura, who would appear a year later opposite Gabin in Razzia sur la chnouf). The film opens shortly after the crime has transpired, the men wining and dining two nubile young women, Lola (Dora Doll) and the lynchpin of their undoing, Josy (a comely Jeanne Moreau several years before Truffaut would make her an icon of the New Wave with Jules and Jim). Unfortunately, Max’s weak spot is his partner Riton (Rene Dary). The plan couldn’t be simpler-Gabin’s Max the Liar simply has to filter the kilos through his family contact, Uncle Oscar (Paul Oettly), who needs to melt the gold down so it’s untraceable. A crime saga which inspired Melville and Claude Sautet, Gabin stars as an aged gangster struggling to see his final heist to its conclusion, which happens to be the daring robbery of 96 kilos of gold bullion from the Orly airport. As part of Kino Lorber’s resurrection of Jean Gabin classics once owned by Criterion, on top of bringing Port of Shadows to Blu-ray, the label also re-releases 1954’s Touchez Pas au Grisbi (aka Don’t Touch the Loot or Honor Among Thieves), a classic which revitalized the French icon’s film career.

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