Underplayed Gems

Cops and Robbers (1951)

Cops and Robbers poster
Original title
Guardie e ladri
Directed by
Mario Monicelli, Steno
Genre
comedy film, comedy drama
Country
Italy
Runtime
1h 41m
Rated
T
Rating
7.5 of 10 from 188 voters
Elsewhere
IMDb
The 3D catalogue: film cases on wooden shelves, with the cat sitting at the counter next to its greeting.

The catalogue in 3D

The film shelves have a room of their own that you can walk around in. The cat behind the counter is the AI Catbot, and they pick real films from the same catalogue when you tell them what you feel like watching. Nothing is for sale, here or in there. Go in from here and this film is already out on the counter, with more like it waiting on the shelf next to it.

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How it feels

A clever thief and a bumbling police officer chase each other around Rome. The cop tries to catch the crook but keeps getting outsmarted. It is a comedy about their cat and mouse game.

lightheartedwittyold-fashionedbriskplayfulearthygentle satireneorealist-influenced

What happens

Cops and Robbers (Italian: Guardie e ladri) is a 1951 Italian cult comedy film directed by Steno and Mario Monicelli. It stars the famous comedian Totò, and the cinematographer was the future film director Mario Bava. It was produced by Dino De Laurentiis and Carlo Ponti. Its style is close to Italian neorealism. Released in Italian cinemas in November 1951 and shown in competition at the Cannes Film Festival in 1952, earned the award for Piero Tellini the script and Totò the Nastro d'Argento. It had trouble with the censor because it portrayed clumsy police and smart thieves, but it was a great success. The film was a huge success and an unexpected liking by critics. Cops and robbers represented a real turning point in the career of Totò, so that for the first time his film had exclusively positive reviews, and its interpretation is considered one of the best of his career. In 2008, the film was included on the Italian Ministry of Cultural Heritage’s 100 Italian films to be saved, a list of 100 films that "have changed the collective memory of the country between 1942 and 1978." It was shown as part of a retrospective on Italian comedy at the 67th Venice International Film Festival. (from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA)

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