Jacques Becker's 1954 crime flick Touchez pas au grisbi translates to "Don't Touch the Loot" in English. But it was also known as "Honour Among Thieves" in the UK. The film represented a big comeback for its star, Jean Gabin, who plays Max, a suave gangster, who might have ended up as a principled detective, had he not chosen a life of crime.
Touchez pas au grisbi doesn't really go anywhere in the first half. We're introduced to Triton (René Dary),Max's crime buddy who is having trouble with his girl, Josy (Jeanne Moreau), now taking an interest in Angelo (Lino Ventura), Max's gang leader rival. Much time is wasted on some peripheral action including Max getting a job for his protégé, Marco, as well as two of Angelo's goons following Max in his car (there are no exciting resolutions to both of these scenes).
Then there is the slow scene in Max's spare apartment where Max and Triton have a conversation and eventually go down to the building's car garage where Max shows his pal where the loot (gold bars) from a recent heist, are hidden. It's there that Triton admits that he mentioned the heist to Josy and Max concludes that Josy told Angelo about the stolen loot. The end of all this lugubriousness is when Max brings the gold bars to a fence who informs him that it will take time to melt them down and give Max some cash.
After that things pick up considerably. Triton is kidnapped by Angelo and his gang and Max briefly considers giving up on his old pal-but loyalty prevails. With Marco in tow, Max conscripts tough guy nightclub owner Pierrot (Paul Frankeur) and they end up capturing one of Angelo's men, Fifi, whom they rough up but eventually obtain no information from and let go.
Angelo proposes a swap: Triton for the gold bars. In a classic scene of cinematic history, there is an involved gun battle on a back road where Angelo and his thugs are killed but Triton badly wounded. A further twist occurs when Max and Pierrot cannot extract the gold bars from a burning car after it's blown up by grenades. The coup de grace is when Triton succumbs to his wounds.
The film is well worth waiting for the payoff at the end, an exciting pastiche of choreographed violence. Gabin is completely in command here and plays a likable villain whose loyalty to a friend shows that sometimes there's "honor among thieves."
Touchez pas au grisbi doesn't really go anywhere in the first half. We're introduced to Triton (René Dary),Max's crime buddy who is having trouble with his girl, Josy (Jeanne Moreau), now taking an interest in Angelo (Lino Ventura), Max's gang leader rival. Much time is wasted on some peripheral action including Max getting a job for his protégé, Marco, as well as two of Angelo's goons following Max in his car (there are no exciting resolutions to both of these scenes).
Then there is the slow scene in Max's spare apartment where Max and Triton have a conversation and eventually go down to the building's car garage where Max shows his pal where the loot (gold bars) from a recent heist, are hidden. It's there that Triton admits that he mentioned the heist to Josy and Max concludes that Josy told Angelo about the stolen loot. The end of all this lugubriousness is when Max brings the gold bars to a fence who informs him that it will take time to melt them down and give Max some cash.
After that things pick up considerably. Triton is kidnapped by Angelo and his gang and Max briefly considers giving up on his old pal-but loyalty prevails. With Marco in tow, Max conscripts tough guy nightclub owner Pierrot (Paul Frankeur) and they end up capturing one of Angelo's men, Fifi, whom they rough up but eventually obtain no information from and let go.
Angelo proposes a swap: Triton for the gold bars. In a classic scene of cinematic history, there is an involved gun battle on a back road where Angelo and his thugs are killed but Triton badly wounded. A further twist occurs when Max and Pierrot cannot extract the gold bars from a burning car after it's blown up by grenades. The coup de grace is when Triton succumbs to his wounds.
The film is well worth waiting for the payoff at the end, an exciting pastiche of choreographed violence. Gabin is completely in command here and plays a likable villain whose loyalty to a friend shows that sometimes there's "honor among thieves."