Du rififi chez les hommes (1955)

Director:

Jules Dassin

Writers:

Auguste Le Breton (novel)
Jules Dassin (adaptation)

Release Date:

5 June 1956 (USA)

Genre:

Crime | Drama | Film-Noir | Thriller

Tagline:

["Rififi"] ...means Trouble!

Plot:

Four men plan a technically perfect crime, but the human element intervenes...

Plot Keywords:

Safe | Jewelry | Italian | Burglary | Jewel

Awards:

4 wins & 1 nomination

Cast

Jean Servais	...	Tony le Stéphanois
Carl Möhner	...	Jo le Suedois
Robert Manuel	...	Mario Ferrati
Janine Darcey	...	Louise le Suedois
Pierre Grasset	...	Louis Grutter aka Louis le Tatoué
Robert Hossein	...	Remi Grutter
Marcel Lupovici	...	Pierre Grutter
Dominique Maurin	...	Tonio le Suedois
Magali Noël	...	Viviane
Marie Sabouret	...	Mado les Grands Bras
Claude Sylvain	...	Ida Ferrati
Jules Dassin	...	Cesar le Milanais (as Perlo Vita)
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
André Dalibert	...	Webb, le bijoutier (as Dalibert)

Also Known As:

Rififi (UK) (USA)

Runtime:

122 min

Country:

France

Language:

French | Italian

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Sound System)

Certification:

France:-16 (original rating) | West Germany:18 | Finland:(Banned) (1956) (uncut) | Finland:K-18 (1978) (uncut) | Finland:K-18 (1959) (cut) | Australia:M | Norway:16 | France:U (re-release) | Sweden:15 | UK:12

Filming Locations:

Grande Poste, Rue du Louvre, Paris 1, Paris, France

Company:

Pathé Consortium Cinéma

Trivia:

L'Age D'or, the club in the film, was named after Luis Buñuel's film of the same name. Production designer Alexandre Trauner worked on both films.

Goofs:

Continuity: When they do timings by car during the heist preparation, the car changes in between shots.

Quotes:

Louise: You're not the only one that had an unhappy childhood, there are millions like you, and, in my eyes, *they* are the tough ones, not you!

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Thick as Thieves (2009/I)

Soundtrack:

La chanson 'Le Rififi'

It's not just the heist scene

Rififi deservedly gets a lot of mention for the famous heist scene, and, indeed, that scene deserves all the credit it gets. It's a masterful piece of suspense, character interaction and photography. But Rififi isn't just this one scene - every scene in the film is as masterfully put together, and as a whole, the film is not only taught with suspense, plot and character, but an adroitly told moral tale that set the scene for film noire for years to come.

Cinematically and technically, the heist sequence may be the most impressive scene of the film, but for me, it's the final scene that holds the most power - Tony le Stéphanois's hallucinogenic drive towards redemption.