The Burglars

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 ****

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.

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 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.