1971 - THE BURGLARS, aka Le Casse

This is Jean Paul Belmondo film about a team of burglars who rob a home full of a lot of jewels,  A corrupt police inspector played by Omar Sharif stumbles onto the robbery and wants a piece of the stolen goods.  Cue the action because after the robbery there aren't a lot of dull moments in this film.

To call this film a light-weight crime thriller is an understatement.  The film is such a trifle that it's basically a bunch of well executed action scenes.  The car chase in the middle of this film has absolutely no reason to be in the story but it gives Rémy Julienne and his stunt team a chance to stage some spectacular stunt driving.

 

 Jean Paul Belmondo was kind of an interesting actor.  He wasn't above doing a lot of his own stunts and he was always a very likable personality in films.  In fact it's safe to say that Belmondo is probably the major reason to even sit through this film because it sure isn't about the plot.  However the film does have a good ending.  Overall this is an entertaining action film.

 

 The film was written by Henri Verneuil and Vahé Katcha, the running time is 126 minutes.

1968 - GUNS FOR SAN SEBASTIAN, entertaining western.

This is a decent well made western.  It's not some classic of the western genre but it's a professional production with a good story, good action and good actors.  Anthony Quinn is am army deserter who disguises himself as a priest.  He ends up in a Mexican town called San Sebastian which is under siege from bad guy Charles Bronson.  Quinn rallies the villagers to fight off Bronson and his gang.

The director is a man called Henri Verneuil who specialized in traditional French film making.  He was not a member of the "new wave" bunch to put it mildly.  If you wanted solid dependable technique in the classic tradition of movie making, Verneuil was your man.

 

Guns For San Sebastian has a good score by Ennio Morricone and say what you want about Anthony Quinn, a larger than life actor.  He's a commanding presence in this film.

 

Written by Serge Gance,  Miguel Morayta, Ennio de Concini, and James R Webb who apparently did the engilish version of this film.  The running time is 111 minutes.