When Tony (Pierre Vaneck) and Dick (Roger Hanin) were serving in Indochina/Vietnam they undertook to smuggle a great deal of money into France for a gangster known only as The Maltese. Instead they used the money to buy the Tip - Tap nightclub from Tepere (Paul Frankeur.) Now The Maltese is giving them three days to repay him, not easy when the club is losing money. Tepere offers a way out. Every week a rich smuggler puts two suitcases of gold onto a small plane. If Tony and Dick help Tepere and his henchman Alberto steal those cases their share will be enough to pay what they owe the Maltese. Trouble is our heroes aren't very bright: even though Tony is in love with the smuggler's daughter (Mijanou Bardot) they don't wear masks during the robbery. They're amateurs compares to Tepere and The Maltese, and double-crosses are inevitable.
IMDb shows this film as lasting 95 minutes, but when I watched it on YouTube it was only 69 minutes long. However, there were no continuity gaps, in fact there was some padding (Hazel Scott singing in the club, Vaneck and Mijanou running around.) The cast is pretty good. Mijanou plays Brigitte, not doubt an in-joke about her sister. She's not convincing as an ace golfer but she's more attractive than BB: no pouting and trying to be sexy, and it's a pity she soon married and retired. Vaneck is mostly associated with the films of Pierre Kast, a neglected auteur, and while Hanin generally played tough guys, he was less impressive than his contemporary Lino Ventura. There are early appearances by two of France's best actors: Jean Rochefort in his first film plays a waiter in the club, and Michel Lonsdale in his second is a champagne salesman.
The film was a first feature for Michel Deville and Charles Gerard. Deville went on to be one of France's most interesting directors, but Gerard made or co-directed only six features over a ten year period: none made a big mark, and he was mainly active as an actor. The two adapted a story by Albert Simonin, responsible inter alia for "Touchez Pas au Grisbi" and "Melodie en sous-sol." I won't pretend this film is in the same league, but I can recommend it as an enjoyable way to pass 69 minutes (or even 95.)
IMDb shows this film as lasting 95 minutes, but when I watched it on YouTube it was only 69 minutes long. However, there were no continuity gaps, in fact there was some padding (Hazel Scott singing in the club, Vaneck and Mijanou running around.) The cast is pretty good. Mijanou plays Brigitte, not doubt an in-joke about her sister. She's not convincing as an ace golfer but she's more attractive than BB: no pouting and trying to be sexy, and it's a pity she soon married and retired. Vaneck is mostly associated with the films of Pierre Kast, a neglected auteur, and while Hanin generally played tough guys, he was less impressive than his contemporary Lino Ventura. There are early appearances by two of France's best actors: Jean Rochefort in his first film plays a waiter in the club, and Michel Lonsdale in his second is a champagne salesman.
The film was a first feature for Michel Deville and Charles Gerard. Deville went on to be one of France's most interesting directors, but Gerard made or co-directed only six features over a ten year period: none made a big mark, and he was mainly active as an actor. The two adapted a story by Albert Simonin, responsible inter alia for "Touchez Pas au Grisbi" and "Melodie en sous-sol." I won't pretend this film is in the same league, but I can recommend it as an enjoyable way to pass 69 minutes (or even 95.)