After a long period in jail, Charles (Jean Gabin) returns home and does not accept the plan of his wife Ginette (Viviane Romance) of moving to the countryside for a quieter life. He plots the heist of a casino and invites his young cell mate Francis (Alain Delon) and his brother-in-law to participate. The check-in two different hotels posing of millionaire and Charles' plan works perfectly. But when Charles finds that Francis has compromised his plan with a silly attitude, things go wrong."Mélodie en sous-sol" is another great French heist movie with Jean Gabin and Alain Delon. The story is well-developed and the ironic conclusion is very tense. My vote is seven.Title (Brazil): "Os Gangsters da Casaca" ("The Gentlemen Gangsters")

This is referential to a degree; the young Turk and the seasoned pro was done better in Alain Corneau's Le Choix des armes with Gerard Depardieu taking on Yves Montand and if it comes to that Montand was integral to a better 'caper' movie, Jean-Pierre Melville's Le Cercle Rouge but whilst this one takes its time to get going Henri Verneuil racks up the tension with the heist itself, which is, of course, the centre point and then he tends to let himself down by a slight variant of the end of Kubrick's The Killing. Nothing with Gabin is ever going to be a waste of time and though Delon developed into a fine actor he is a tad too mannered here. There's a good opening sequence in which Gabin, on the train taking him home out of the slammer (though we don't know this yet) listens scornfully to the other commuters comparing dull lives but after this there's something of a hiatus til the caper itself. Worth a look.

It's so refreshing to sit back, relax, and enjoy a slow simmering casino robbery caper. No dizzy editing, no mindless car chases, no wiz kid gadgets, no convoluted but inexplicable plots. Just an old hand released after serving 5 years, coming home to his wife and vowing that he will pull off a big one and live happily ever after. Never hurried, things get better and better. The year is 1963 and the venue, the French Riviera, as a matter of fact, Cannes. Better still, it's in black and white.Here we have young Alain Delon's explosive appearance that makes him look like James Dean for a few minutes, before he resumes the persona we know him so well by, cool and stylish. At the ending (and what an ending), we even see him in a little bit of a pensive mood. It is, however, old timer Jean Gabin who gives you every dollar's worth, portraying the old master, sturdy as a rock and clever as a fox, as Spencer Tracy might have played it.Following the caper through from the meticulous storytelling, we become so empathized with the principals that we are finally prepared for the ending. The situation is so devilishly set up that every tingle of tension in the air become palpable. Use of the camera is now swung to high gear, from the shot of Delon appearing at a distance through a circular archway with a bulky bag in each hand, to the frame with Gabin sitting at the near side of the swimming pool and Delon over at the far side, at an angle. You can hear the thundering silence as they exchange non-existent glances. The last twenty minutes in this movie would be the most memorable last twenty minutes in any movie that you have come across.

This film deserves more credit than it gets. All the actors are top notch (Jean Gabin as the ageing theif, Alain Delon as the playboy) and the story is very well crafted and has all the great tough guy dialogue of great caper's like RIFIFI, BOB LE FLAMBEUR etc however the overall tone of the film is a bit lighter and not as serious as those films. the heist itself is pretty short and sweet but this movie is more about the planning and the aftermath.Another great thing about this picture is that even though it's black and white, it's still widescreen adding a nice touch to the look of the film. The only drawback to the DVD is that the picture is quite soft and blurry but for a film of this age and obscurity beggars can't be choosers! Another must see for heist fans (like me!)