Rififí en la ciudad (1963)

User Rating:

5.1/10   

Director:

Jesus Franco

Writers:

Juan Cobos (writer)
Charles Exbrayat (novel)

Release Date:

1963 (Spain)

Genre:

Crime | Thriller

Plot:

Film based on the novel 'Vous souvenez vous de Paco'.

Plot Keywords:

Neo Noir | Based On Novel

Cast

Fernando Fernán Gómez	...	Sargento Detective Miguel Mora (as Fernando Fernán-Gómez)
Jean Servais	...	Maurice Leprince
Laura Granados	...	Pilar
Antonio Prieto	...	Comisario Vargas
Robert Manuel	...	Puig
Maria Vincent	...	Nina Laverne (as Marie Vincent)
Dina Loy	...	Juanita
Agustín González	...	Antonio Ribera
Manuel Gas
Luis Marín	...	Manolo
Ángel Menéndez
Serafín García Vázquez
Jacinto San Emeterio
Joaquín Pamplona
Davidson Hepburn	...	Chico Torres

Also Known As:

Chasse à la mafia (France)

Runtime:

100 min

Country:

Spain | France

Language:

Spanish

Color:

Black and White

Sound Mix:

Mono (Westrex)

Certification:

Spain:18

Company:

Albatros C.P.C.

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: Juan's corpse noticeably blinks several times.

WHAT?! Jess Franco made a movie that's actually GOOD?!

I wouldn't imagine I'd ever say this, but yes, he did. The Worst Director Ever made a competent film out of 206 (in 2004, as Franco himself confirmed to me; probably more today). I don't know what happened, perhaps Uncle Jess signed to do it, put his name on the credits and then went for a vacation leaving an assistant director behind to actually direct the picture. Or maybe he left a cousin direct it as a favor. Or he once tried to be good, then he decided being good was boring and went to work hard to be as awful as possible. The fact is, if you don't read the credits you could hardly tell this is a Jess Franco movie. Only in some details like being set in a South American country that looks exactly like Andalucía, and the occasional blinking corpse and editing jumpcut, you'd guess the author of "Vampyros Lesbos" is behind it. But "Rififí en la ciudad" (a misleading title to cash on the success of Duvivier's "Du rififi chez les hommes", with nothing in common with it apart from a couple of imported actors, and not being a caper but more of an European noir) does have an engaging story, impressive cinematography and solid performances. Also, it lacks the most recognizable Jess trademarks: sleaze and zooms (I couldn't detect a single one!). Most of the merits of these are not Franco's but courtesy of Charles Exbrayat who wrote the original novel, cinematographer Godofredo Pacheco, and a fine cast led by the always excellent Fernando Fernán-Gómez as the tough cop who investigates the death of a young man that was a magnet for ladies (and certain men – see below), but surprisingly not even Jess was able to screw these factors up. It's, as well, the earliest movie I can think of that involves a "serial avenger", way before the genre became fashionable in the '70s and '80s with everything from "Death Wish" to "Sudden Impact". Plus it contains a couple of elements that are very daring for its time and place: an interracial relationship, and a psychopathic thug that's flamboyantly gay, played in a very Elisha Cook Jr.-like way by the late, great Agustín González.

I could never understand before why Orson Welles chose Franco to direct the second unit in "Chimes at Midnight", but after watching this, which is the one he actually saw (and has quite a bit in common with "Touch of Evil", actually), I finally get it: it looks like the work of a promising young director. Yet it isn't like Franco started well and degenerated later: his (praised in some circles) "The Awful Dr. Orloff" is earlier than this, and I found it terrible. So, the lightning stroke only once. Too bad.

7/10 (the first positive rating I've ever given to a Jess Franco movie – and quite possibly the only one I ever will).