Any Number Can Win [Mélodie en sous-sol] **** (1963, Jean Gabin, Alain Delon, Claude Cerval) – Classic Movie Review 9595

Director Henri Verneuil’s 1963 French-Italian crime thriller Any Number Can Win [Mélodie en sous-sol] stars Jean Gabin as old career criminal Mister Charles and Alain Delon as his young former cellmate Francis Verlot, and is based on the novel The Big Grab by American author Zekial Marko (using the pseudonym of John Trinian). It won the 1964 Golden Globe for Best Foreign Film.

Mister Charles (Gabin) comes out of prison after serving five years for attempted robbery and goes home to reunite with his wife (Viviane Romance) who wants him to go straight, but immediately starts making plans to rob the casino at Cannes, hiring two sidekicks: petty thief Francis (Delon) as his accomplice and his car mechanic brother-in-law Louis (Maurice Biraud) as his get-away driver chauffeur.

A classic example of the French crime genre, Any Number Can Win [Mélodie en sous-sol] has an excellent crime story, involving characters, a well honed screenplay, a crafted production, strong direction and magnetic performances by Delon and Gabin. There is a classic heist sequence too, which lasts 26 and half minutes with minimal dialogue, showing off Delon’s athleticism. The film has more style than substance, but then it has a whole lot of style. Louis Page’s scope (Dyaliscope) black and white images are a revelation, and Robert Clavel’s Production Design and Pierre Charron’s Set Decoration are tremendous assets.

The early scenes where Charles tries to find his old house, now surrounded by new high-rise buildings, are spectacular. Charles’ house at 97 Rue Parmentier, Pierrefitte-sur-Seine, Val d’Oise, France, is shown as the last one left between the new high-rise buildings, and his wife tells him she was offered 15 million francs to vacate. Apparently the house is still standing with no further high-rise buildings around it. The shooting in Cannes, Alpes-Maritimes, southern France, is also a delight: Palm Beach Casino, Place Franklin Roosevelt, Cannes (the place of the hold-up), Hôtel Majestic, 10 Boulevard de la Croisette, Cannes, Résidence Marly, 104 Boulevard de la Croisette, Cannes, (Francis’ Hotel), and Piscine du Palm Beach, Place Franklin Roosevelt, Cannes. There is also Paris location filming. Only some of the set-bound studio work at Studios de la Victorine, 16 Avenue Edouard Grinda, Nice, France, is a bit of a let-down.

Viviane Romance as Ginette.

Screenwriter Michel Audiard came across the novel via its French publisher Série Noire, and suggested adapting the film to producer Jacques Bar. The production got backing from MGM, which released it in the US and elsewhere.

And the ending? It is advertised ‘Don’t tell the ending… nobody’ll ever believe you!’ It is as cheeky as it is surprising, very darned neat though, ironic and cool like the rest of the movie.

Delon lobbied Bar for the co-starring role, offering to take the profits from film’s distribution rights in some countries in lieu of a salary. This paid off, with Gabin later claiming that Delon earned ten times more than he did.

Also in the cast are Claude Cerval as the Police Commissioner, Maurice Biraud as Louis Naudin, Viviane Romance as Ginette, Carla Marlier as Brigitte, Dora Doll as Countess Doublianoff, Henri Virlojeux as Mario, José Luis de Vilallonga as Mister Grimp, Rita Cadillac as Liliane, Anne-Marie Coffinet as Marcelle, Jean Carmet as Barman, Jimmy Davis as Sam and Dominique Davray as Léone.

The excellent instrumental jazz score is composed by Michel Magne, adding a lot to both style and atmosphere.

It was colorized in 1994, and shown on French TV in 1996 in a version 15 minutes shorter, with many scenes truncated. Only the black-and-white version has a US DVD release, but elsewhere DVD releases have both versions.

Runtime: 118 minutes, or 103 minutes (color) (France).

UK title: The Big Snatch. US title: Any Number Can Win.

MGM’s 1956-57 logo starts the film.

Gabin also plays an old time gangster pulling a last heist with an accomplice helping him getting into a vault from the outside in Le Soleil Des Voyous (1967).

Alain Delon was born on 8 November 1935 in Sceaux, Seine, France.

French producer Jacques Bar died on 19 January 2009, aged 87. He founded Cité Films in 1947, and produced more than 80 films, including Joy House (1964), The Outside Man (1972), My Father The Hero and seven of Gabin’s ‘late period’ movies, among the best of his career.

© Derek Winnert 2020 Classic Movie Review 9595

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