Back from the pen, tough guy Jean Servais and some old cronies plan to knock over a jewelry store with the aid of freshly imported safecracker “César the Milanese” (director Dassin billed as “Perlo Vita”). The resulting heist — a legendary 30-minute sequence without dialogue or music—provided a usable blueprint for real-life professionals (causing outright bans in some countries). Blacklisted Hollywood exile Jules Dassin turned a potboiler by milieu specialist Auguste Le Breton into an existential thriller that earned him Cannes’ Best Director prize and set the standard for screen robberies for decades to come. (Jules Dassin, France, 1955, 118 min.) In French with English subtitles
A Rialto Pictures Release
