I soliti ignoti (1958)

Director:

Mario Monicelli

Writers:

Agenore Incrocci (story) &
Furio Scarpelli (story) ...
(more)

Release Date:

22 November 1960 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Crime

Plot:

A motley quintet of inept small-time thieves bungle the burglary of a local pawnshop in this Italian farce.

Plot Keywords:

Pawnshop | Sicilian | Gang | Photographer | Burglar

Awards:

Nominated for Oscar. Another 3 wins

Cast

Vittorio Gassman	...	Peppe il pantera
Renato Salvatori	...	Mario Angeletti
Memmo Carotenuto	...	Cosimo
Rossana Rory	...	Norma
Carla Gravina	...	Nicoletta
Claudia Cardinale	...	Carmelina
Carlo Pisacane	...	Capannelle
Tiberio Murgia	...	Michele Ferribotte
Gina Rovere	...	Teresa, wife of Tiberio
Gina Amendola	...	Mario's 'Mother'
Elvira Tonelli	...	Assunta
Elena Fabrizi	...	Signora Ada (as Elisa Fabrizi)
Pasquale Misiano	...	Massimo
Renato Terra	...	Eladio
Aldo Trifiletti	...	Fernando, doorkeeper
Nino Marchetti	...	Luigi
Mario De Simone	...	Il ricettatore
Marcello Mastroianni	...	Tiberio
Totò	...	Dante Cruciani
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Edith Bruck	...	The Woman quarrelling under the skylight (uncredited)
Franco Carli	...	(uncredited)
Mario Feliciani	...	Police inspector (uncredited)
Ida Masetti	...	Gabriella (uncredited)
Mario Meniconi	...	Paolo (uncredited)
Mimmo Poli	...	Prisoner (uncredited)
Lisa Romey	...	Emilia (uncredited)
Amerigo Santarelli	...	(uncredited)
Gustavo Serena	...	(uncredited)
Roberto Spiombi	...	Piero (uncredited)

Directed by
Mario Monicelli

Writing credits
Agenore Incrocci		(story) &
Furio Scarpelli		(story)
Agenore Incrocci		(screenplay) &
Furio Scarpelli		(screenplay) &
Suso Cecchi d'Amico		(screenplay) &
Mario Monicelli		(screenplay)
Italo Calvino		(short story "Furto in una pasticceria") uncredited

Produced by
Franco Cristaldi	....	producer

Original Music by
Piero Umiliani

Cinematography by
Gianni Di Venanzo

Film Editing by
Adriana Novelli

Production Design by
Piero Gherardi

Set Decoration by
Vito Anzalone

Costume Design by
Piero Gherardi

Makeup Department
Romolo de Martino	....	makeup artist (as Romolo De Martino)

Production Management
Gino Millozza	....	production supervisor
Nicolò Pomilia	....	production manager (as Nicolo Pomilia)

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Mario Maffei	....	assistant director

Art Department
Italo Tomassi	....	manager of art department (uncredited)

Sound Department
Oscar Di Santo	....	sound technician
Luigi Puri	....	sound technician

Camera and Electrical Department
Erico Menczer	....	camera operator

Editorial Department
Marisa Letti	....	assistant editor (as Maria Luisa Letti)

Music Department
Piero Umiliani	....	conductor

Other crew
Renato Jaboni	....	production secretary
Silvana Mangini Colizzi	....	script supervisor (as Silvana Mangini)
Vincenzo Taito	....	administrator
Renato Cominetti	....	voice dubbing: Tiberio Murgia (uncredited)
Nico Pepe	....	voice dubbing: Carlo Pisacane (uncredited)
Monica Vitti	....	voice dubbing: Rosanna Roy (uncredited)

Production Companies

• Cinecittà (Stabilimenti Cinematografici)
• Lux Film
• Vides Cinematografica

Distributors

• Cristaldifilm (1958) (worldwide) (all media) (rights)
• Lux Film (1958) (Italy) (theatrical)
• Franco Cristaldi-Lux Films (1960) (worldwide) (theatrical)
• United Motion Pictures Organization (UMPO) (1960) (USA) (theatrical) (dubbed)
• Janus Films (1960) (USA) (VHS)
• Connoisseur Video Collection (1988) (USA) (VHS)
• Tamarelle's International Films (1988) (worldwide) (VHS)
• Criterion Collection, The (2001) (USA) (DVD)
• Home Vision Entertainment (HVE) (2001) (USA) (DVD)
• Studio Canal (2001) (USA) (DVD)
• Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment Italia (2003) (Italy) (DVD) (restoration remastered version)
• Aquarius TV (2004) (Greece) (DVD)
• Aquarius TV (2004) (Greece) (TV)
• Koch Lorber Films (2005) (USA) (DVD)
• Audio Visual Enterprises (2005) (Greece) (DVD)
• Barcino Barcino Films S.A. (Spain)
• Criterion Collection, The (2004) (USA) (DVD)
• Universal Music Group

Also Known As:

Big Deal on Madonna Street (USA)
Persons Unknown (UK)

Runtime:

106 min

Country:

Italy

Language:

Italian

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Finland:S | Italy:T | Spain:T | Sweden:Btl | Argentina:Atp | Singapore:PG

Filming Locations:

Rome, Lazio, Italy

Company:

Cinecittà

Trivia:

Premiere voted this movie as one of "The 50 Greatest Comedies Of All Time" in 2006.

Quotes:

Tiberio: Stealing is a serious profession. You need serious people, not people like you. All you can do at your best is work.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in The Best of Film Noir (1999) (V)

Good Fluffy Heist Romp Loaded With Great Italian Stereotypes

As a veteran of heist movies, I think my opinion is valid when I say that it's not so much a spoof of heist films like Rififi as it is just a funny movie about thieves who bumble their way through what could be a much slicker and less complicated heist if the thieves from Rififi were pulling it off instead. The movie enjoys its fair share of little con tricks and bait-and-switch-oriented goings-on, mostly played for laughs of surprise. Perhaps Big Deal On Madonna Street is a little too laid back to really be as memorable as I was thinking it would be, but it is very funny. It has several great sight gags and well-timed moments of Italian-faced goofiness.

The most entertaining thing about the film is the fact that it's Italian. The Italian cast is so jampacked with overt stereotypes, everyone gesturing wildly and saying, "Mamma Mia!" The outcome of the heist is such a ridiculous slur on the comic strip archetype of Italians, something twice or thrice as hilarious to an American audience. However, the appeal is not just in the humor in what is either an Italian self-parody or an unaware display of every mocked Italian institution. It's also the extroverted, old-fashioned world of your average Italian in this film. The first half hour of the film is a bunch of characters scrambling to find a friend who will take the rep for someone for a little while in prison, and everything continually gets more complicated and more tangled, and so many different people end up in prison. Not only do I find it amusing how nonchalant everyone is in deciding whether they will do this favor that involves spending time in jail or not, but I'm also fascinated about the idea that in Italy, crooks aren't so much worried about what will happen to them when they go to prison as they're worried to death of what their mother will think of them or how their mother will be so wounded by what has come of her son. It's almost a beautiful mindset, if you ask me.

Big Deal On Madonna Street is no masterpiece, no movie that you desperately want to come back to, but it's very funny and an enjoyable piece of European cinema.