Touchez Pas au Grisbi (1954)

This movie is undoubtedly the best movie in the world ever. I've seen it about 10 times over the years, and every time it is fresh and fascinating. It's so beautiful but bad story about friendship and betrayal between two elderly gangsters, but it is also a story about aging and disappointment.

Jean Gabin's performance is the crowning jewel of this gem of a film. An extra bonus is a young Jeanne Moreau as a cabaret dancer. The final gunfight still stands strong among today's cg-filled action scenes. Definitely the pinnacle of Jacques Becker's work, but don't forget the marvelous Golden Helmet (Casque d'or) and The Night Watch (Le Trou).

Fmovies: The middle age bon-vivant Max (Jean Gabin) is a former gangster and close friend of his partner Riton (René Dary). They have stolen eight gold bars of 12 kg each that worth 50-million francs and Max has kept them hidden for their retirement. Riton's mistress Josy (Jeanne Moreau) is tired of him and has found a new lover to support her, Angelo (Lino Ventura), who is a dangerous gangster. Riton has made a comment to Josy about the gold and soon Angelo discovers that Max and Riton have the stolen gold. He abducts Riton to force Max to give the gold to him. Will Max exchange his gold for Riton?

"Touchez pas au grisbi" is a classy French-Italian production with a great story of honor and friendship. The pace is capable to detail a scene like, for example, Max and Riton brushing their teeth without being boring. Max is an interesting character and it is delightful to see his reactions and tranquility towards any situation, his code of honor and his face in the end after receiving the phone call with the bad news. It is also impressive how beautiful and sexy the actresses are. My vote is eight.

Title (Brazil): "Grisbi, Ouro Maldito" ("Grisbi, Cursed Gold")

Like his masterpiece, 'Le trou', this film embodies Becker's distinctive vision of the world. We are given a portrait of a bond of love between two men--a kind of love which is beyond anything a man and a woman can know. But this is not Oscar Wilde's 'love which dare not speak its name': there is no hint of homoerotic sexuality. Rather, this is the bond of the trenches and the workplace (presumably class and underworld trenches in the case of the protagonists), a theme which has a tremendous atavistic resonance in French culture and history insofar as it reflects a collective male experience extending from the Napoleonic Wars through the Paris Commune down through WWI--the kind of camaraderie for life which predisposed a man to sacrifice all that he holds dear for another man (another instance of this is in Jean Vermillon's 'Gueule d'amour'), and hinted at in a sentimental, nuanced way when Max breaks out the foie gras and a bottle of blanc after his buddy has made a costly bonehead move. Note also that incredible sigh of utter lassitude that 'Max' (Jean Gabin) heaves as he sits through yet another girly show--or that look on his face as 'Betty' asks him if he loves her (after he's slept with her)--a look which tells us his every thought is on his pal, 'Riton'. This is not to say that women are portrayed throughout in a disparaging light: "Mme. Bouche", the owner of the restaurant and 'Marinette', the nightclub owner's wife (a wonderfully subtle portrait of uxorial solicitude and anxiety) are both characters who reinforce and serve male solidarity. But there's the suggestion that when the male/female bond involves sexuality, a guy can lose his head and forget about his mates.

This male/female divide appears to overshadow class divisions, which were to be at the heart of Becker's 'Le trou.' Still we can see Becker's communist sympathies coming through in oblique ways. Max is the engaging, attractive character that he is because of his fierce devotion to others, his liberality of spirit (after he leaves a huge tip to the petit-bourgeois owner of the cafe' in the process of recycling leftover wine, the latter remarks, 'We could use more customers like him'), the value he places on his pal's life over the loot, the easy way he has with trusting and receiving the trust of others--all these things are non-commercial values and they suggest a world and way of life alternative to what America has in store for France. Note, for example, how the camera lingers on the road sign at the scene of the first shootout: 'Autoroute a' l'ouest', 'Expressway to the west'. It's the same road Max and his pals rush down and that takes them straight to the disaster with the loot. The promise of riches that America ('the West') tantalizingly dangled before the French in the form of the Marshall Plan was not to be taken up without heavy costs. Pauvre Max: in the end he cannot cry at the loss of his buddy (though I cried for him): he cannot express his grief because he is now in the company of "Betty", his American doll and source of support (fittingly played by a real-life Miss America of 1946).

Sure made me feel as though I should have spent more of my life in France.

Touchez Pas au Grisbi fmovies. Max(Jean Gabin) is a gentleman gangster with a penchant for nice suits and champagne and the brains of the criminal partnership, the other being his long time friend and partner in crime, Riton (René Dary),"the muscle" so to speak of their partnership, together they have just pulled off a substantial heist and are now 50 million francs better off in gold bars. Max likes the easy life of night clubs and restaurants, he isn't greedy and now intends to retire with his fortune, Riton agrees, but he inadvertently tells his young night club dancer girlfriend Josy (Jeanne Moreau)of his large stash of Grisbi(Loot/Swag), she has been two timing him with the much younger and very ambitious crook Angelo, Josy of course informs him and using this knowledge Angelo sets out to take it from Max. Max suspicious that he is being followed confides in Riton that something is about to happen,he also tells his old friend how he discovered Josy's infidelity, Riton is furious and leaves Max's safe haven to take revenge on his younger adversary.Riton ends up in a trap and is kidnapped by Angelo, demanding Max release the gold as ransom. Touchez pas au grisbi isn't so much an action crime flic as it is a no action one, we never get to see the heist or the every day violence of the criminal fraternity, Becker's film is much more about the silences between the crimes and the everyday mundaneness of the criminals life, their conversations, their dining habits etc… this ploy is all the more effective when the film explodes at its climax with the type of violence you would expect of a typical Crime film. A forerunner of Dassin's Rififi or more obviously Melville's Bob Le Flambeur, Touchez pas au Grisbi is a fine film that some might find a little dull, but its romantic vision of Parisien criminal lives is still very intriguing and a welcome alternative to the stereotypical hoods of the genre. Gabin is nothing short of superb as the aging gangster, willing to give up his position and power for the easy life, his relationship with his loyal friend Riton is more like that of a married couple who are still friends after many years together but ultimately wonder why they ever got together, we are only given one glimpse of Max's rage towards his friend in a brief voice over, where Max lets fly at his companions stupidity, that might cost them both their lives and their Grisbi, other than that Max is a cool operator, nothing fazes him, even as the plot thickens and a quick response is required to save Riton's life, Max is just as easy going as he always is, he might just as easily be at home brushing his teeth or folding his pyjamas again, we never quite know what Max is thinking. The understated pate eating scene is superbly orchestrated by Becker ,there is hardly any dialogue but through gestures and eye movements, we learn an awful lot about their relationship…..Touchez pas au Grisbi in the hands of Becker is both elegant and evocative and a pleasure to behold and as French Noir goes its right up there with the best.

The title of this French film noir is slang for "loot". Jean Gabin stars as racketeer Max. Seeking out the finer things in life, Max intends to pull one last job and retire. After stealing a fortune in gold, our hero is faced with a crisis of conscience when his best friend (Rene Dary) is kidnapped and held for a huge ransom, the proceeds of this last job. Max manages to turn the tables on the abductors, but his dreams of a life of ease explode in his face. Up-and-coming leading lady Jeanne Moreau plays a pivotal role as the femme fatale who leads Dary into the hands of his kidnappers.

An intriguing film that inverts many of the film noir cliches. The heist which drives the film's plot has already occurred when the film starts, which has the effect of shifting the film's focus from the crime itself to the consequences of leading a life of crime. The characters are portrayed less like criminals than businessmen, calmly going about the business of earning a living. As a result, the few scenes of violence that occur are more shocking than they would be in a more routine crime film. An intriguing film that clearly influenced subsequent French crime films, especially Jules Dassin's "Rififi" and Jean-Pierre Melville's "Bob le Flambeur".

Jacques Becker 1954 "Touchez pas au grisbi" is a delight to watch. M. Becker was an artist that knew what to give his fans, as he clearly shows in this masterful account about the gangsters operating in Paris during the fifties. Becker and his cinematographer, Pierre Montazel, brought the cameras to the streets as we are taken to savor that underworld they operated from. The jazzy score by Jean Wiener works well in the film. The film shows us the bygone Paris of that period, beautifully photographed by M. Montazel in all its splendor.

At the center of it all is Max, the older gangster who suddenly begins feeling the toll of his years living dangerously and is contemplating retirement after he, and his partner, Riton, get rid of the gold bars they have stolen from a shipment at Orly airport. Max and Riton are seen at the beginning of the film dining at Chez Bouche with two younger women, Josy and Lola, who are chorus girls in the night club that seems to be the venue where these characters like to frequent.

Things get complicated when Josie tells the newly arrived Angelo about what Max and Riton have and the trouble starts as he wants to get to the stolen goods for his own benefit. Thus begins a conflict between two different factions of the underground that will end badly. Max's plans for retirement with the proceeds of the sale of the stolen gold will have to wait.

The best thing about the film is the uncanny way M. Becker and his collaborators reproduce that era for us. The world of the night clubs, restaurants, watering places, apartments, and other places where these characters move, are faithfully recreated for our pleasure in the movie. This film noir influenced a lot of other movies that came after, as Becker's influence inspired future movie makers.

Jean Gabin, probably the best French actor of all times makes us like his Max, even though we realize he is a criminal. M. Gabin is the whole reason for taking a look at this film that he dominates at all times. Rene Dary, is seen as Max's partner in crime, Riton. Jeanne Moreau in one of her earlier films shows why she went to be one of the stars of the French cinema. Her Josie is excellent. Also in the cast, the fabulous Lino Ventura who plays Angelo. Denise Clair plays Mme. Bouche and Dora Doll is Lola.

"Touchez pas au grisbi" will not disappoint Becker's fans.