Roger Santet (Alain Delon) is a convicted murderer sprung from prison by the aging gangster Vittorio Manalese (Jean Gabin) for the sole purpose of stealing a large cache of jewels from an exhibit in Rome. While preparing for the robbery, Manalese’s shady partner Tony Nicosia (Amedeo Nazzarri) suggests an alternate plan which results in an unforgettable heist sequence that’s as clever as it is bold. The tension never lets up as dogged police inspector Le Goff (Lino Ventura) wises to their scheme and pulls out all the stops to thwart their plans. The film also features a memorable score by Ennio Morricone. (118 mins.)

In English.

Becker introduced the subgenre of the character study of an aging gangster with this adaptation of an Albert Simonin novel. Drawing on star Jean Gabin’s unique persona to add depth, the eventful heist plot weaves a turncoat mistress (Jeanne Moreau), a gang war, and a story of revenge. Becker’s study of a man of action growing too old for his way of life influenced later films such as THE WILD BUNCH and UNFORGIVEN. (94 mins.)

For his penultimate work in the genre, Melville brings together three archetypal tough guys for their appointment with destiny in the “red circle”: prisoner-in-transit Gian Maria Volonté, crashing out of the train that’s taking him from Marseilles to Paris; ex-cop Yves Montand, moving from hopeless DT-plagued drunk to dapper, rock-steady sharpshooter; and quintessential Melville anti-hero Alain Delon, on his first day out of the joint shrugging off two murder attempts and planning his next big job. All three join forces for a meticulously orchestrated heist of a Place Vendôme bijouterie, a silent tour-de-force in the grand movie tradition of RIFIFI, TOPKAPI, and THE ASPHALT JUNGLE. (140 mins.)

Dassin directed and co-scripted one of the most gripping crime films in this bluntly realistic movie about the plotting and execution of an elaborate jewel theft. Jean Servais plays the leader of a gang making a raid in another gang’s territory. The transgression brings brutal results. Dassin keeps the audience on pins and needles during the heist and sets up the dramatic finale by carefully introducing the characters as real people. (122 mins.)

In the tradition of the great gangster films of the 1930s, Melville’s finest film is the story of an aging safecracker and compulsive gambler who passes like a prince through the nightclubs and darkened streets of Paris. One day broke and down on his luck, he masterminds the biggest gamble of his life—the robbery of the Deauville Casino. Melville captures the ambience and the Pigalle underworld with great affection in a very personal blending of crime and comedy—his love letter to a Paris gone by. (98 mins.)

“Neo-realism meets Film Noir, as tough guy Lino Ventura—going back to France with the wife and kids after a decade’s absence—plans a job for some start-up money, but, as the mayhem mounts, realizes there may be another life beyond the milieu. CLASSE TOUS RISQUES marks the first major feature for Sautet and the first teaming of two French super-icons: former champion wrestler turned scene stealer Ventura and New Wave wunderkind Jean-Paul Belmondo, coming straight from BREATHLESS.” —Film Forum. (103 mins.)

“Two aspiring Parisian thugs, Franz and Arthur (Sami Frey and Claude Brasseur), are drawn to violence as bit players in a film noir: they adore the cool indifference, the macho invulnerability. All that is to change when Odile (Anna Karina) enlists them to burglarize the villa where she works, and reality arrives like a police siren. None of Godard’s early films captures the ‘trembling’ of youth and love as marvelously as BAND OF OUTSIDERS, in which a very good girl goes just bad enough to dance the Madison in a cafe and turn the dreary Paris suburbs into something out of LES VAMPIRES. For Franz and Arthur (named after Kafka and Rimbaud), things are a little more perilous, and in telling their story, the film’s voiceover narration turns a série noir novel into existential poetry.” —Pacific Film Archive. (95 mins.)