Gentleman gangster Max and his partner, Riton, pull off their last, most successful heist and find themselves comfortable enough to retire in the style they enjoy. However, Max confides the details of the theft to his younger mistress, Josey -- who has secretly taken up with ambitious young rival gangster Angelo. Angelo then has Riton kidnapped and demands the stash of gold as ransom, which threatens Max's dreams of the perfect retirement.
Every filmmaker from Francois Truffaut to Quentin Tarantino owes something of a debt to Becker's black-and-white boldness.
– Janice Page,
Boston Globe,
16 Jan 2004
fresh:
There's not a trace of vanity in [Gabin's] performance.
– Roger Ebert,
Chicago Sun-Times,
6 Feb 2004
fresh:
The acting is consistently good. M. Gabin is, of course, an old hand at bland toughness. Rene Dary and Paul Frankeur, as two colleagues; Jeanne Moreau and Dora Doll, as two unlucky ladies, and Lino Ventura and Denise Clair... are sordidly convincing.
– Howard Thompson,
New York Times,
25 Mar 2006
fresh:
Jacques Becker, who did such a fine job in painting the turn-of-the-century apache milieu in Casque D'Or, brings the same care and psychological overtones to a film on the modern racketeer element.
– Variety Staff,
Variety,
23 Jan 2008
fresh:
It's Gabin's show all the way, anticipating the melancholy, atmospheric gangster pictures of Jean-Pierre Melville that started to appear a couple years later.