Big Deal on Madonna Street (1958)

Original title

I soliti ignoti

Directed by

Mario Monicelli

Genre

drama film, comedy film, heist film

Country

Italy

Runtime

1h 41m

Rated

e Livre

Rating

8.1 of 10 from 786 voters

Elsewhere

IMDb

How it feels

A group of bumbling small-time thieves in Rome plan to rob a pawn shop. Their efforts go comically wrong as they fumble through the heist.

lightheartedplayfulwrycomediccharmingunderdogspirited

What happens

Big Deal on Madonna Street (Italian: I soliti ignoti; released as Persons Unknown in the UK) is a 1958 Italian comedy caper film directed by Mario Monicelli. Regarded as one of the masterpieces of Italian cinema, the film received an Academy Award nomination for Best Foreign Language Film. The plot revolves around the comedic mishaps of a group of small-time thieves attempting to burgle a pawn shop in Rome. The main characters are portrayed by Vittorio Gassman, Renato Salvatori, Carlo Pisacane, Tiberio Murgia, and Marcello Mastroianni. The film contributed significantly to the careers of Gassman and Mastroianni, with the former breaking into comedic roles previously considered unsuitable for him. Claudia Cardinale makes a minor appearance as a chaste Sicilian girl constrained by her overprotective brother, portrayed by Murgia. Cardinale achieved fame for her subsequent work. The film's breezy jazz score by composer Piero Umiliani contributed to the development of the jazz soundtracks characteristic of European films in the 1960s and 1970s. Initially doubtful about the film's potential success, the producers strategically featured the comedian Totò on the original poster to generate audience attention. Totò's character serves as a consultant to the heist gang instead of directly joining them. In 2008, it was included in the Italian Ministry of Cultural Heritage's list of 100 Italian films to be saved, acknowledging its impact on the collective memory of the country between 1942 and 1978. (from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA)

Trailer

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