‘Mélodie en sous-sol‘ (1963) is an excellent heist film, one of the best of director Henri Verneuil‘s heyday and the first screen collaboration between Jean Gabin and Alain Delon. The great French star and the conqueror of hearts in the 30s-40s-50s was passing the baton to the young stars who were exploding on the screens in those years. A year before, he had made ‘Un singe en hiver’ with Belmondo, also directed by Verneuil. Alain Delon was, paradoxically, better known at that time in Italy where he had achieved some exceptional roles in films directed by Visconti and Antonioni, but he was looking for a mainstream success. He achieved it with ‘Mélodie en sous-sol‘ and that not only on the French market but also on the American market, where the film was released under the title ‘Any Number Can Win‘.
Charles just got out of prison. His wife would like him to end his career as a burglar, a career that has lasted for decades and has also brought him two convictions totaling about eight years in prison. Charles will not give up on one last hit for which he recruits young Francis, a young and ‘promising’ miscreant. The target of the strike is the casino in Cannes. Francis has one week to familiarize himself with the places, identify the access and escape routes and find a hiding place for the money after the hit. The plans seem to get complicated when Francis becomes involved with a dancer in the casino’s ballet troupe. As in many other films of the genre, the devil in the details will come into play.
Almost everything succeeds to Henri Verneuil in this film. He chose to shoot in black and white at a time when color film was already cheap enough for the choice to be aesthetic. It is one of the reverences sent by Verneuil to his colleagues who had decided to fully engage on the New Wave path. There are a few more, including the dramatic big-band jazz background score composed by Michel Magne. The script adapts an American novel from Serie Noire, but the transposition in France is perfect, due in part to the dialogues written by Michel Audiard. The cinematography belongs to the experienced Louis Page, with many mirror games and other daring and spectacular angles. It would be his last collaboration with Verneuil, as Page will die a few years later. Jean Gabin – who had entered the period of undertaking seasoned gangster roles (when he was not doing Commissioner Maigret) – is excellent, although the script is a bit stingy with him in the second part of the film, after having dominated the beginning. The focus of the story shifts to the infiltration of Francis, played by a darker than usual Alain Delon, into the world of the casino and his relationship with the beautiful Brigitte (Carla Marlier). The scene of the heist itself lasts about 25 minutes without boring for even a second, and the anthological final scene must be seen and not told about. ‘Mélodie en sous-sol‘ is a film that ages beautifully. Worth watching or re-watching.