Any Number Can Win (1963)

For a part of public, the actors are the lead motif to see it. for other, the plot, reminding Ocean Eleven. a French Heist movie, good performance of Delon, same Gabin in inspired use of the nuances of character and the perfect end. nothing new at first sigh. in fact, the old flavors are the lead motif for see a film about a hold -up, its levels and portraits of men inside it.

This is referential to a degree; the young Turk and the seasoned pro was done better in Alain Corneau's Le Choix des armes with Gerard Depardieu taking on Yves Montand and if it comes to that Montand was integral to a better 'caper' movie, Jean-Pierre Melville's Le Cercle Rouge but whilst this one takes its time to get going Henri Verneuil racks up the tension with the heist itself, which is, of course, the centre point and then he tends to let himself down by a slight variant of the end of Kubrick's The Killing. Nothing with Gabin is ever going to be a waste of time and though Delon developed into a fine actor he is a tad too mannered here. There's a good opening sequence in which Gabin, on the train taking him home out of the slammer (though we don't know this yet) listens scornfully to the other commuters comparing dull lives but after this there's something of a hiatus til the caper itself. Worth a look.

Verneuil made a nice,rather banal career with decent,unambitious "american movies" like this one,and also he became almost respected.I grant this was,anyway,somehow better,and surely more entertaining than his previous,French-populist phase.I guess I have seen some 8 of his films (Le Mouton a Cinq Pattes,Des gens sans importance,Un singe en Hiver,Mélodie en sous-sol ,Le Clan Des Siciliens,Le Serpent ,I Comme Icare,Les Morfalous );I grant some of them are rather good;I do not consider them extraordinary. But I think no one does.I've seen I Comme Icare when I was 12 years,in '90.I've liked much Le Serpent ."Melodie ..." is well-paced,sympathetic,clean,honest,and,above all, suspenseful.All it has to offer are its two leads,and that's not little.Don't expect Ocean's Eleven ,yet.Gabin has a honorary role in "Melodie ...",and not only his,but all the roles are simply epic conventions--no characterization at all.

A prototypical heist flick. Old ex-con Jean Gambin is looking for one last score before he retires -- the robbery of a casino on the French Riveria. He enlists Delon, a cocky punk, to help him. Has all of the features: old guy looking for one last score, young active guy who still sort of needs to learn the ropes, complicated heist relying on split second timing, things that go wrong at the last second, unexpected developments, a lot of masquerades, etc. Early on there's some playing around with the notion that Gambin symbolizes a time that is passing, but that isn't really developed, settling down instead to more standard genre fare. Heist is clever and well done, the remake of Ocean's Eleven later stole some of the ideas here. Final shot has that typical Gallic "throw your hands up in despair" kind of thing going for it. Cast is good, with Delon in particular a standout in the kind of role he was meant to play in those years.