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With exquisite style and attitude, genre auteur Jean-Pierre Melville prefigures the French New Wave movement with 1955's Bob le Flambeur. After losing the chance to film pulp novelist Auguste Le Breton's Rififi (that pleasure went to Jules Dassin), Melville collaborated with the author on what would be both his first original screenplay and his first gangster film. Roger Duchesne stars as Bob Montagné, a high-rolling former hoodlum who used to own the Montmartre night. Unfortunately, these days his wealth lies mostly in style; poor Bob is near broke. While helping a tenderfoot crook, Paolo (Daniel Cauchy), cut his teeth on crime, Bob sees a shot at redemption in a casino heist in Deauville. But, this being the genre it is, nothing really works out right. Displaying an amount of cool not yet associated with French cinema in the '50s, Duchesne owns this film from start to finish. Supporting-cast highlights include Isabelle Corey as an appealing and seemingly innocent social climber and Guy Decomble as the police inspector on Bob's back. Melville's approach to this noir is downbeat and beat-down -- black and white never seemed so dark and so light -- but, with liveliness to spare, the director also sets the stage for the rough-and-tumble Paris of the French New Wave, particularly Jean-Luc Godard's landmark Breathless. As payback for so deftly contributing to a revolution, Melville gets a deferential cameo in Godard's film. Tony Nigro

All Movie Guide

Both a tribute to classic American gangster films and the source of inspiration for French New Wave filmmakers, Bob le Flambeur is the first in a series of stylish noirs that Jean-Pierre Melville started in the mid-'50s. Co-scripted by the popular crime writer Auguste Le Breton (Rififi), this is a story of ex-bank robber and compulsive gambler Bob (Roger Duchesne), who plans a heist at the Deauville casino. As in many films of that genre, he assembles a team of old friends and new acquaintances to do the job and is determined to perform it despite all the odds that continue to pile up before him. The overall tone is admirably lighthearted, however, and despite many stylistic and thematic references to American caper movies, the whole enterprise remains genuinely French. "This is a kind of film that we want to make!" exclaimed the young and rebellious François Truffaut back in 1955. Jean-Luc Godard, in his turn, acknowledged Melville's influence, giving him an extended cameo in Breathless. Yuri German

Village Voice

Bob Le Flambeur takes itself seriously, but as attitude thrillers go, it's exceedingly light on its feet. The movie is a superb riff with a boffo finale, a terrific, cynical punch line, and a crazy closing image of Bob's Plymouth on an empty beach. J. Hoberman

Product Details

• UPC: 037429165928
• Source: CRITERION
• Aspect Ratio: Pre-1954 Standard (1.33.1)
• Presentation: B&W
• Sound: Dolby Digital, monaural
• Language: Français
• Subtitles: English
• Time: 1:42:00
• Sales Rank: 167

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