User reviews

"Le Casse" is a simple, straightforward story about a crook named Azad (Jean Paul Belmondo), whose gang stole emeralds worth $1 million. While waiting for their boat to leave Athens, they hid the jewels, and try to escape from the schemes of a unscrupulous cop, Zacharias (Omar Sharif).

This movie is another example of the brilliant collaboration between the underrated Henri Verneuil ("Un singe en hiver", "100,000 dollars au soleil", "Peur sur la ville") and Belmondo. They share an honest love for such movie treats as car chases, evil bad guys, anti-heroes, slight eroticism, exotic food, humor and Bond-like misogyny. Which this movie contains galore. And it's also one of the first times when Belmondo performs his famous stunts, without any wires or stunt doubles. One scene in particular shows the "hero" being hidden in a dump-truck, which discharge its payload (including Belmondo) on a slope going down to a mine. You can actually see Belmondo stumble down the slope among debris and rocks and once down the slope stand up, dust off his trousers and walk away. In a single shot. Like Jackie Chan or Colt Seavers. And the movie contains a lot of great 70's milestones, like an almost silent intro showing the theft of the emeralds, or a spectacular car chase in the streets of Athens.

All in all, a very entertaining piece of 70's French cinema.

¨The burglars¨ is a good French movie about hold-up with top-notch actors . Azad (Jean-Paul Belmondo) is a delinquent who along with a motley group (Robert Hossein , Renato Salvatori and his girlfriend played by Nicole Calfan) plans a robbing . Azad pretends the perfect robbery recruiting his expert accomplices but a Police Inspector named Amed Zacharia (Omar Shariff) tracks down on them . The hold-up is carefully schemed on the Tasco(Jose Luis Villalonga)'s home .The morning after newspapers publicize ¨Tasco robbed of 1.000.000 in emeralds¨. Meanwhile Azad falls in love with a gorgeous woman (Dyan Cannon). But the bad luck and the corrupt Zacharia does the crime gone awry.

This heist movie packs thrills, emotion, exciting burglary, extraordinary performances , spectacular car chases, and a moving finale . Sensational acting by two big star names, Jean Paul Belmondo and Omar Shariff. Belmondo steals the show , as he runs , bound and leaps ; such as Jackie Chan , he jumps over buses , cars and makes his own stunts . Strong secondary cast as Robert Hossein , Renato Salvatori , Jose Luis Villalonga , among others. Interesting and thrilling screenplay based on a novel by David Goodis , whose books have been frequently adapted on cinema as ¨Street of no return, Shoot the piano player and Dark passage¨ . Atmospheric cinematography by Claude Renoir , though is necessary an urgent remastering . Nice musical score with catching leitmotif composed by the maestro Ennio Morricone and conducted by Bruno Nicolai.

The picture is professionally directed by Henry Verneuil, a Turkish director working in France from the 40s. Although not a director of great reputation among the critics, his movies have almost all been aimed squarely at the commercial market. Verneuil is an expert on heist-genre such as he proved in ¨The Sicilians clan(68)¨ and ¨Melodie in soul soul¨, both of them with with Jean Gabin and Alain Delon, furthermore on Warlike genre : ¨Weekend at Dunkirk¨and ¨The 25th hour¨and even directed one Western : Guns of San Sebastian(68)¨. He seemed to have dropped out of the film-making after 1976, but in 1981 unexpectedly reappeared with yet another of his caper film : ¨Thousand millions of dollars¨. Rating : Acceptable and passable, a must see for French cinema lovers and Belmond and Shariff fans.

This film is sadly underrated (as is Charles Bronson's "Red Sun") for the fun it provides. Its an old-fashioned adventure story of a corrupt cop (Sharif) in a cat and mouse game with a gang of burglars led by Belmondo with a cache of emeralds as the prize. Its beautifully shot in widescreen and the music by Morricone is awesome. A great car chase is a bonus. What else do you want for 2 hours? Good laconic perf by Belmondo. Sharif as the vicious bent cop is good as well. Dont look for deep characterization; Verneuil's goal is the keep the story moving. The widescreen (2.35) ratio of this film requires a letterbox video treatment. Unluckily for us fans it may be a long wait before we see such a treatment.

Great car chase sequence (which like everyone said has NOTHING to do with the plot of the movie--it mostly just introduces the idea that Omar Shariff is a bad ass as well.) Movie is good escapist entertainment---Bellmondo steals a bunch of emeralds from the safe of some dude's house in a Greek island and said dude hires Shariff (who is a cop) to bring them emeralds on home. A lot of alternating scenes of smooth talking between the two and chasing follow--somehow Dyan Cannon as a visiting American model enters the plot as a potential ally for Bellmondo---even tho her role makes very little sense, its still totally worth it for one sequence in which Bellmondo slaps her silly and those slaps turn on and turn off the lights in her apt--(her apt apparently was an early beta tester of The Clapper! its very very funny and got a huge laugh from the audience who actually came out to see a re-screening of this the other week.) Very enjoyable movie overall--but far from perfect--but who the hell needs perfection when you have that car chase and a drunken Omar Shariff right? seriously that was a legitimate question!

The first adaptation of David Goodis' novel 'The Burglar', directed by Paul Wendkos, is well shot and gritty but marred by the pretentious dialogue of the author's own screenplay.

As a complete contrast, in this later version from Henri Verneuil, glitz replaces grit and Vahé Katcha's dialogue is infinitely more prosaic.

Verneuil and Jean-Paul Belmondo had made their first film together in 1962 and nine years later they are on their fourth. It is essentially a comic book treatment which enables its star to do what his legion of fans adore which is to perform well choreographed, daredevil stunts and beat people up whilst keeping his tongue firmly in his cheek. We also have an obligatory girlie show and a car chase that goes on and on and on.......

The most interesting feature here is the dynamic between Belmondo as the thief and Omar Sharif as the crooked cop. Sharif invests a nasty piece of work with his immense charm and his French is impeccable.

Although technically proficient, this mucho macho nonsense is now very much a period piece which has not dated well and reminds us that Verneuil was the most American of French directors. American cinema basically fulfills the need to be distracted and here Verneuil has delivered two hours of total distraction.

I have been reading the work of David Goodis, an American writer who wrote dark thrillers in the 1940's and 1950's. After reading the novels, I have been watching (or re-watching) the film adaptations. Goodis's work has been adapted by Francois Truffaut (Shoot the Piano Player), Delmer Daves (Dark Passage), and Samuel Fuller (Street of No Return), among others. Henri Verneuil's film adaptation of Goodis's The Burglar is best watched on its own terms rather than as an adaptation.

The Burglars (film) keeps a great deal of the plot from The Burglar (novel). A group of burglars (three men and a young woman) are in the process of robbing emeralds from a house when a policeman (two in the novel) spots their getaway car. The leader of the burglars (Azad in the movie, Harbin in the novel) convinces the policeman/policemen that his car has broken down. The police car leaves and the robbery is finished. Everything appears fine, but then come the complications. A beautiful woman comes out of nowhere and begins to make eyes at Azad/Nat, setting up a love triangle with the female burglar. In addition, the policeman (or one of the policemen in the novel) wants the emeralds for himself, setting up a game of cat and mouse.

All of the above summary fits both the movie and the novel. The big difference is in tone. The movie is trying to be a crowd pleaser. The tone is mostly light, giving Jean-Paul Belmondo and Omar Sharif a chance to play off of each other. There is a fun car chase and a funny scene in a restaurant where the policeman insists on ordering the burglar's food. Also, the catchy Ennio Morricone score reflects the film's lighthearted mood (I own the soundtrack). On the downside, The Burglars is a little overlong and mostly wastes Dyan Cannon. In addition, while fun to watch, there is not much to reflect upon when it is over.

The novel The Burglar goes into much darker territory. It is a noir story, where the criminal hero finds himself struggling in traps both real and emotional as he balances two very different women and tries to survive the corrupt policeman. This policeman is not the cool, dashing Omar Sharif but an unhinged psychopath with no qualms about resorting to murder.

Here is an example of how film and novel handle a similar section. In both, the female burglar is sent away after the job. In both, the hero, Azad/Harbin, has to go and retrieve her. In the film, he resorts to riding around in a clown car, literally a car done up with a giant clown on the front, broadcasting an advertisement for the coming circus. This works in the film because The Burglars is the equivalent of a trip to the circus. However, the novel records its hero's journey with unease dripping from the pages.

"Then the road sign was past them and in front of them was the black and the booming storm. Harbin had an odd feeling they were a thousand miles away from Atlantic City and a thousand miles away from anywhere. He tried to convince himself the Black Horse Pike was a real thing and in daylight it was just another concrete road. But ahead of him now it looked unreal, like a path arranged for unreal travel, its glimmer unreal, black of it unreal with the wet wild thickness all around it."

The Burglars is an enjoyable enough heist picture, but The Burglar is a novel that gut punches the reader.

There are few reasons to watch this well made action, thriller, heist, fun flick: 1) Awesome car chase in the streets of Prauge (Another reason to watch)that makes all those CGI look alike cry. 2) The restaurant scene which will make you want to eat those tasty looking dishes, while Omar Sheriff and Belmondo are having a witty dialog. 3) Belmondo over the top stunts, you have to see to believe. This guy was nuts alright. 4) Excellent as always, Ennio Morricone soundtrack. 5) The funny Ending.

If you are looking for a good 70's action fun, with some nice exotic places, with great car chase and good cast, go a head try it!

The first twenty minutes of "The Burglars" concerns a highly complex and detailed home invasion/safe robbery, with four crooks in Greece making off with a million dollars worth of emeralds; unfortunately for them, the chief investigator on the case is playing both sides of the law, and he's onto them from the start. Based on David Goodis' novel "The Burglar", and previously filmed in the U.S. under that title in 1957, this caper has such a meticulously mounted set-up that it's a bit strange to have it change gears almost immediately into a chase-laden cat-and-mouse game (with amusingly derivative elements). Dyan Cannon is used as (very lovely) window-dressing, but the real flirting comes between master thief Jean-Paul Belmondo and crooked cop Omar Sharif (they share a Greek meal together that is so specific, it's hard to believe the intimate tension wasn't unintentional). Some of the action is truly hair-raising, and the film is generally good-natured and well-made, if familiar. **1/2 from ****

Whether this film was intended as a caper movie or a parody of a caper movie is its chief mystery. Jean-Paul Belmondo plays a super-cool jewel thief bedeviled by Omar Sharif, a super-cool detective. Dyan Cannon, a centerfold model, shows up whenever the improbable script gropes for sexual intrigue. Although based on a novel by David Goodis, a far superior movie was written by the novelist and directed by Paul Wendkos: "The Burglar" (1957), starring Dan Duryea and Jayne Mansfield. Henri Verneuil's version begins, not with character, but with the tiresome employment of what appears to be a Professional Safe-Cracker Tool Kit, from Home Depot. The chase scene seems even more artificial when relevant issues, like who is chasing whom and for what purpose are not revealed. It's typical of the brittle nature of the whole project that much time is spent on what's for dinner and stunts, which must be worked out with such balletic precision, that they seem entirely inorganic to the thin plot. The sadistic homoerotic gun teasing scenes are no fun. At least, we do get a strip-tease from beautiful Pamela Stanford. Oo-la-la! Mercifully, David Goodis, whose intriguing themes are tossed aside in a couple of weak lines, died before this version was born.

Very nice movie with the best part being the car chase! Move over French Connection, this is absolutely fantastic driving in real life traffic in Athens and it's suburbs. This could the main reason for watching this movie besides an excellent cast and a good story.

A robbery that started and ended without a problem, a plan that started to go wrong soon enough, a cop that is quite suspicious and suspect and who knows what happened but pretends that he does not. Put all these into the mix and a beautiful woman and you got an interesting movie from 1971 shot both in French and English. By the way, JPB did most of the stunts himself.

This film is empty, a good beginning with a suspens scene, then the film goes totally incoherent and is not believable. They filled the emptiness with over extended action scenes that have no sense at all. In fact the story could set on a short film and didn't need these 2 hours length. The good reviews out there are very surprising, seeing Belmondo punching a random guy is not that entertaining when it turns to be the only substance of the film... Verneuil has made way better hopefully.

...that's if you can get it at all. I haven't seen a copy of this movie in about 15 years, and it's only because it has such a dumb title that I can even remember what it was called.

Honestly, I can't remember anything about 'The Burglars', which I saw once, in about 1989, other than the fact that it has the most amazing car chase I've ever seen. I remember thinking the stunt drivers must have been madmen. No special effects, slow-motion or anything; just insane high speed driving through the streets of Athens. Steven Spielberg is supposed to have said that 'The Castle of Cagliostro' had the best car chase ever filmed. I guess he can't have seen this one. Honestly, it's just nuts.

As for the rest of the film, I don't remember, and frankly, who cares. If I ever track down another copy, it'll only be for one reason (and BTW, I'm not a car-chase, or even action-film buff. I mean, I thought 'Gone in 60 seconds' was as boring as dirt, as well as being utterly stupid. But I will always make room for the best example of any genre, and if car-chases were a genre, this would be my pick)

Well, that wan't much of a review, was it? But from what I remember, it wasn't much of a movie except for the... yeah, yeah, OK: you get the idea by now.

Although this crime/action film was released more than fifty (50) years ago I found the film to still hold up extremely well when compared to todays action/crime films which are usually ladened with an over abundance of CGI throughout. The two (2) lead actors Jean-Paul Belmondo, who plays the slick jewel thief named Azad, and the lone wolf Detective Abel Zacharia played by (1963) Oscar nominee Omar Sharif both want the jewels and so a game of cat and mouse begins. The catnip used by Detective Abel Zacharia to lure the jewel thief Azad into submission is the very sexy and very young Dyan Cannon who plays a nude centerfold model named Lena Gripp's. Stop the salivating gentlemen, I said she plays a nude centerfold model, but Ms. Cannon keeps her clothes on for this entire film.

The action scenes which include two impressive car chases and a few good extended fight scenes also make this film a memorable one. Therefore I give this five (5) decades old film a well deserved 7 out of 10 IMDb rating.

I like this film especially because there is a great great great car race in the streets of Athens. I think this car fight is better than in "Bullit" (by Peter Yates with MacQueen). Jean-Paul Belmondo is simply very good.

Brilliant acting, good, classic plot, fantastic score from, once again, Ennio Morricone, the best car chase ever... (Remy Julienne, of course) Belmondo is at his best, Sharif is a superb baddy, and they fight each other with skills, brains, guts and muscles. They don't make breathtaking suspense like this anymore. Well, Sharif is really... how to say? impressive? ghastly? Hum, how do you say "malsain" in english? This one is a classic. Check it out. And "l'Homme de Rio" as well.

In Athens, the professional thief Azad (Jean-Paul Belmondo) and his gang composed by his friends Ralph (Robert Hossein) and Renzi (Renato Salvatori) and his girlfriend Hélène (Nicole Calfan) heist the emerald collection from the millionaire Tasco (José Luis de Vilallonga). While Azad is opening the safe, Inspector Abel Zacharia (Omar Sharif) suspects of their car parked on the street, but Azad arrives posing of a salesman with a defective car and resolves the problem. Their situation goes awry on the next morning, when the cargo ship that will take them away needs to be repaired and they have to stay five more days in Athens. Soon Azad learns that Inspector Abel Zacharia is a corrupt cop and is chasing them with the intention of exchanging their freedom per the gems, in the beginning of a cat and mouse game.

"Le case" (1971), a.k.a. "The Burglars", is an entertaining Italian-franc police story with a great duel between Jean-Paul Belmondo and Omar Sharif characters. The chase of cars in the narrow streets of Athens is one of the best in the cinema history and the scenes of the corrupt inspector hunting down Azad are breath taking. Azad is the villain that the viewer will certainly chert for. My vote is seven.

Title (Brazil): "Os Ladrões" ("The Thieves")

The Burglars is a good entertaining movie to watch during leisure hours. The futile but reckless car chase sequence is compelling and Belmondo vs Omar Shariff is an exciting combination.

Inspite of all the coercion and blackmailing by Zacharia (played by Shariff), the scoundrel played by Belmondo manages to escape at the end and the cop had to grapple in a heap of wheat flow under silos tanks. The theme music produced by Ennio Morricone has a subtle and beguiling tinge of danger and suspense. The movie has good action sequences, intriguing plot, catchy deceit and some romance, as well.

This movie is a much better entertainment than watching "Pirates of the Caribbean" or "The Mummy" or the recent "2012 end of the world" which can only be enjoyed by people sporting puerile imagination and fictional taste. A show of death and destruction, creepy images and fiction superimposed by computer animation and special effects does not correspond to good movie making.

It is a 1971 French detective film with comedy elements. The leading role is French legend star Jean Paul Belmondo. Also, the other legendary star Omar Sharif is the second lead. There are some interesting moments in the movie. At that time, the steel case opening apparatus in the form of a bag was admirable. Secondly, the follow-up scene is the legend and the jokes at the end of the scene. And the third is the mention of the wonderful Turkish dishes stuffed leaves, moussaka and imam fainted in the movie. Fourth, automated technology in homes and spaces. The movie is a great nostalgia. While watching the movie, you are also watching history. Although it is a bit weak as a subject, I liked the movie and I recommend it.

The soundtrack of the movie is by Ennio Morricone.

There are scenes of sexuality and nudity in the movie.

If there is anything worse than a film with too much style and little substance, it's a film that has neither of those things. "Le Casse" manages to be both boring and insipid, with dialogue scenes that don't mean anything, chase scenes that go on forever without ever becoming exciting (just like the speedboat chases in "Live And Let Die" for example) and characters so unlikable that there is nobody to root for. Only two positive qualities:OK acting and a gorgeous Dyan Cannon. (**)

According the car's stunt still alive, Henri Verneuil stayed thrilled watching McQueen's Bullitt, which he would like make something alike to may overshadow the original, as much as he tried the final outcome stayed miles away on those Athens hillsides and stairways, at least memorable, the story about a high-tech emerald heist from a modern safe, carried out by a French's gang skilled in this kind of endeavor led by Azad (Jean-Paul Belmondo), doomed at random when a dubious local Chief of Police Abel Zacharias (Omar Shariff) just passing by a street whereof the house of a great tycoon is ongoing a bold robbery, raising suspicious of the cunning agent of law.

After the heist has been undertaken, Abel tracks down Azab a sort a cat and mouse chase to recover the emerald set collection, after a breathtaking car chase at Athens, followed by a Hollywoodian escape, meanwhile enter in the game the sexy gorgeous model Lena Gripp's (Dyan Cannon) aiming for taken photographs of Azab's profile to deliver it to Zacharias to pass on custom authorities to arrest him in case he tries slipping away conventionally, after the wise burglar and the corrupt Zacharias trying settle a fair agreement concerning the valuable stones, his freedom or jail.

An energetic effort achieved by Belmondo dismissing stunts mostly of dangerous sequences, he was in great shape to did those fabulous scenes, mainly in the highest dumpsite in an endless downhill, Belmondo has overfished in that bold sequence, put in jeopardy his life for few moment of glory, sponsored by Columbia as distributor at American market, all shooting ought go through the sieve of them, thus it became an Hollywoodian entertainment.

Thanks for reading.

Resume:

First watch: 1986 / How many: 2 / Source: TV-DVD / Rating: 7.5.