"Masterpiece of French Noir"
Don't touch the stash, is a French-Italian crime film directed by Jacques Becker (
Le Trou (1960)). The film was written by Jacques Becker, Albert Simonin, and Maurice Griffe. It was adapted from Albert Simonin's novel of the same name.
The cinematography was by Pierre Montazel, the music was by Jean Wiener.
The film stars Jean Gabin as Max, an semi retired Paris gangster. René Dary is Riton, Max's old partner in crime. Lino Ventura plays Angelo the drug lord of a narcotics gang. Paul Frankeur is Fats Pierrot the Mystific night club owner. Michel Jourdan
is Marco, Dora Doll is Lola, the dancer who goes out with Max. Paul Œttly plays Oscar, Max's fence, Oscar's secretary is played by Marilyn Buferd plays Betty, she is also a mistress of Max. Jeanne Moreau plays Josy, dancer who goes out with Riton.
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| Jean Gabin as Max |
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| Max and his best buddy Riton (René Dary) |
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| Max playing his favorite tune |
Max is enjoying a semi retired gangsters life with his old partner Riton. They are pretty much on easy street. Besides what they are currently living on they also have a secret stash of 50 million francs in the form of eight gold bars. In the 1950s $1 was worth about 400 francs so in perspective Max and Riton have $125,000 cached.
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| Marco (Michel Jourdan) Max and Riton |
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| Patrons at Madame Bouche's |
One night Max and Riton with their two burlesque gal pals are dining at Madame Bouche's restaurant. A younger buddy, Marco, shows up and the five of them head to the Club Mystific where the girls perform. Driving to the club Riton chastises Josy when he catches her snorting some coke.
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| Josy (Jeanne Moreau) about to snort some coke |
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| The Club Mystific |
The sequences at the Club Mystific are a good example of what an artistic, sophisticated, mature, uncensored. and unencumbered film industry France enjoyed in the 1950's and 60's compared to MPPC restricted Hollywood. You wouldn't see the touches of nudity, graphic violence, or even much drug use (with out the perpetrators all coming to a bad end or at least showing repentance) in comparable American Crime films until the mid 60s.
Another observation is that when the say nudity is displayed in French Cinema its casual and nonchalant, natural. When American independent producers started to push the Motion Picture Production Code they acted like kids, with no supervision, let loose in a candy store. They, comparatively to the French, just pushed it in-your-face and overdid it.
Club Mystific Floor Show
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| As the show begins Fats asks Max to stop in at his office |
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| Josy and Dora Doll (Michel Jourdan) |
During the floor show at the club, Max meets with Fats and Angelo a drug racketeer. Max vouches for Marco to Fat's who doesn't like the current pusher that Angelo has selected to work the nightclub.
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| Angelo (Lino Ventura) Max and Fats (Paul Frankeur) |
After the meeting with Fats, Max looking for Riton in Josy's dressing room finds Josy in Angelo's arms. He doesn't mention this to Riton.
Max takes at taxi back to his apartment. An ambulance tailing them. Max tells the driver to give them the slip. They managed to ditch the ambulance, but Max takes no chances and watches and waits at his apartment house.
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| The ambulance passed a hospital the cab driver remarks to Max |
The two men tailing him are Angelo's goons. He traps them in an elevator, then fires a couple of shots in the air causing the concierge to call the cops.
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| Trapped in the elevator |
Max then calls Riton telling him to beware of Angelo. He also instructs Riton to come and pick him up. Max and Riton drive to Max's safe house. Riton has never been there. Max discloses to Riton where he has the gold stashed.
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| The gold is in the trunk of a new car Max bought that he never drives |
Riton confesses to Max that he hinted at having the gold to Josy because he thought he was loosing her. Max replies that he saw Josy and Angelo together. Josy must have spilled the beans to Angelo.
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| Oscar the Fence (Paul Œttly and Max |
The next morning Max takes the gold to a fence to convert the gold to cash. When he gets back Riton is gone. Max calls Josy's hotel and discovers that Riton was just taken away in an ambulance.
Max hires Marco as his backup and heads with him to Josy's hotel. Their they capture Fifi, one of Angelos men who was staking out the place. Max calls Fats at his apartments. They take him there and down to the subbasement and work him over to get some information.
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| The capture of Fifi |
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| don't fuck with Fats |
Max calls Angelo and tells him he'll trade the gold for Riton. They set up the exchange but of course it all goes Noirsville.
Noirsville
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| Max and Dora Doll |
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| Here is another Hollywood no-no Max grabbing a woman's breast in jest making a joke |
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| The exchange |
This is a perfect film, Jean Gabin's performance is excellent. Throw in Lino Ventura and a young Jeanne Moreau as a cabaret dancer and the exquisite Black & White cinematography of Pierre Montazel all under the direction of Jacques Becker and it all adds up to Masterpiece. 10/10.
"Funny how Ventura got the role. At the time he was a promoter of wrestling matches after having been european champion (he remarked that it was a real sport, at the time, not the buffoonery it became afterwards) and somebody made his name to Becker. Becker sent somebody to get in touch with him and he had some kind of informal screen test incredibly successful. The thing was reported to Becker who gave his OK and an offer was made. Ventura's answer was:"I want a million francs" and didn't budge from that request, though it was a sum unheard of for somebody who had never played not even amateurishly. But he could afford that as his current job was very remunerative. And the production finally had to give up. Gabin's commented to Becker after the very first scenes:"You won't ever manage to persuade me that that guy is a beginner." (titoli SLWB)
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