Big Deal on Madonna Street (1958) was nominated in 1959 for Best Foreign Language Film at the Oscars and, in 2008, the Italian Ministry of Cultural Heritage recognised it by listing I soliti ignoti (its Italian title) among the 100 best Italian films.
Big Deal on Madonna Street (1958) was nominated in 1959 for Best Foreign Language Film at the Oscars and, in 2008, the Italian Ministry of Cultural Heritage recognised it by listing I soliti ignoti (its Italian title) among the 100 best Italian films.
Appearing after a string of hit French heist films (such as Touchez pas au grisbi, 1954, and Rififi, 1955 - both screened by Classic Film Club over the years), Big Deal on Madonna Street chooses to parody them. It starts when Cosimo, a small-time crook is released from prison with a heist idea stolen from his cell-mate, a bricklayer who says he deliberately constructed a flimsy wall between a safe and an empty apartment. Cosimo starts by enlisting the help of a small gang of 'elite' criminals.
The film goes on to satirise the long, silent safe cracking scene from Rififi and has a breezy jazz soundtrack, that sets the standard for many European films of the 1960s and 70s.
Cardinale plays a chaste Sicilian sister of one of the gang, while Marcello Mastoianni extends his already growing Italian fame, getting noticed by an international audience. There is also a cameo performance from Totò, the veteran Italian comic actor of screen and stage. Though he has a small part, Totò was probably the biggest name - which is why he features in the poster.
Not to be missed, the trailer says, by anyone with a sense of humour.
