Monsieur Gangster (1963)

Original title

Les Tontons flingueurs

Directed by

Georges Lautner

Genre

comedy film, gangster film

Country

Germany, France, Italy

Runtime

1h 49m

Rated

TP

Rating

7.7 of 10 from 568 voters

Elsewhere

IMDb

How it feels

A retired gangster gets pulled back into the underworld when an old friend dies and leaves him in charge of his shady business. He must navigate a web of rival crooks and family obligations while trying to stay out of trouble.

quirkywittylightheartedstylishcerebraloffbeatclassic

What happens

Les Tontons flingueurs (French: [le tɔ̃tɔ̃ flɛ̃ɡœʁ]; English: Crooks in Clover, also known as Monsieur Gangster, literally Gun-toting Uncles) is a 1963 French-Italian-West German crime comedy film with French dialogue, directed by Georges Lautner. It is an adaptation of the Albert Simonin book Grisbi or not grisbi. The film is the final installment in the Max le Menteur trilogy; it was preceded by Touchez pas au grisbi and Le cave se rebiffe. The film was not popular with critics upon its first release in 1963, but was popular with the public. Its reputation has grown over the years to cult status and it is now a French television classic, with snatches of dialogue and names of characters (like the prostitute Lulu la Nantaise) becoming part of popular culture. Its DVD version, released in 2002, sold 250,000 copies. One of the most famous scenes is set in a kitchen where the gangsters try to make conversation while drinking a vile and strong liquor. Screenwriter Michel Audiard considered the scene useless but director Lautner included it in homage to the film noir Key Largo. (from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA)

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