Synopsis
Jean Gabin is at his most wearily romantic as aging gangster Max le Menteur in the Jacques Becker gem Touchez pas au grisbi (Hands Off the Loot!). Having pulled off the heist of a lifetime, Max looks forward to spending his remaining days relaxing with his beautiful young girlfriend. But when Riton (René Dary), Max’s hapless partner and best friend, lets word of the loot slip to loose-lipped, two-timing Josy (Jeanne Moreau), Max is reluctantly drawn back into the underworld. A touchstone of the gangster-film genre, Touchez pas au grisbi is also pure Becker—understated, elegant, evocative.
Cast
| Max le Menteur | Jean Gabin |
| Henri Ducros, alias Riton | René Dary |
| Pierrot, the club owner (“Fats”) | Paul Frankeur |
| Angelo | Lino Ventura |
| Marco | Michel Jourdan |
| Josy | Jeanne Moreau |
| Lola | Dora Doll |
| Madame Bouche | Denise Clair |
| Marinette, Pierrot’s wife | Gaby Basset |
| Oscar, the fence | Paul Oettly |
| Huguette, his secretary | Delia Scala |
| Fifi-le-Dingue | Daniel Cauchy |
| Ramon | Vittorio Sanipoli |
| Betty, the American | Marilyn Buferd |
Credits
| Director | Jacques Becker |
| Producer | Robert Dorfmann |
| Adaptation by | Jacques Becker, Maurice Griffe and Albert Simonin |
| Dialogue | Albert Simonin |
| Based on the novel by | Albert Simonin |
| Cinematography | Pierre Montazel |
| Editing | Marguerite Renoir |
| Production Design | Jean d'Eaubonne |
| Music | Jean Wiener |
Disc Features
- New, restored high-definition digital transfer
- 2002 video interview with actor Daniel Cauchy
- Excerpt from an episode of the French television series Cineastes de notre temps dedicated to Jacques Becker, featuring screenwriter Maurice Griffe, Grisbi author Albert Simonin, actor Lino Ventura, and François Truffaut
- 1972 interview excerpt with Lino Ventura
- Clip from a 1978 interview with composer Jean Wiener
- Theatrical trailer
- New and improved English subtitle translation
From the Current
Touchez pas au grisbi: Strange Reflections
by Jan 17, 2005Albert Simonin’s novel Touchez pas au grisbi is said to have had a revolutionary impact on French crime writing, and Jacques Becker’s film version had a similarly transformative effect on French crime films, yet film and novel bear little resemblance to each other . . .
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