Tue 31 Mar 2020
A Movie Review by Dan Stumpf: THE BURGLARS (1971/72).
Posted by Steve under Crime Films , Reviews[3] Comments
REVIEWED BY DAN STUMPF:
THE BURGLARS. Columbia Films, France, 1971. Columbia Pictures, US, 1972. Original title: Le casse. Jean-Paul Belmondo, Omar Sharif, Dyan Cannon. Based on the novel The Burglar, by David Goodis. Director: Henri Verneuil.
Speaking of Perversity, I wanted to say a word or two about a French film called The Burglars, directed by Henri Verneuil and, based on David Goodis’s melancholy novel The Burglar. Never — not once in many many years of watching Trashy Movies — have I seen a film so utterly unfaithful o its source material.
And never have I watched a film so lightly enjoyable anyway. From start to Finish, the Burglars is a romp, with spectacular scenery, mind-boggling stuntwork by its star,Jean-Paul Belmondo, colorful backgrounds, fights, chases, leaps, bounds, double-crosses, Op Art, gimmicks, and every thing else that made the thrillers of the late 60s/early 70s such fun to watch.
The plot, about a gang of jewel thieves picked off by a cop who’s gone into business for himself, serves mainly as a pretext for Belmondo to strut his klutzy machismo while Cannon and Sharif look seductive, and is a complete betrayal of Goodis’s haunting thriller. But it’s all done with so much panache as to be immediately forgivable. And totally entertaining. Catch it!
March 31st, 2020 at 7:52 pm
Watch this. It is 12 minutes of movie watching you won’t regret:
I read somewhere that Belmondo did his own driving. This may or may not be true.
March 31st, 2020 at 7:56 pm
And here’s Ed Gorman’s long review of the movie on his blog, which I’m happy to see is still online:
http://newimprovedgorman.blogspot.com/2014/07/the-burglars-1972-starring-jean-paul.html
March 31st, 2020 at 9:08 pm
Even in French what is going on is so obvious and the constant movement and action so involving you pick up about ninety percent of the plot. It’s clear they are all having fun, and clear as well the whole purpose of the film is to do that and have as much fun doing it as possible.
That ending is a stunner though.
A much more faithful film noir version of the book exists under Goodis original title with Dan Duryea the title character.