Movie Type: Post-Noir (Modern Noir), Gangster Film
Themes: One Last Heist, Dishonor Among Thieves
Main Cast: Roger Duchesne, Isabelle Corey, Daniel Cauchy, Howard Vernon, Guy Decomble
Release Year: 1955
Country: FR
Run Time: 100 minutes
Plot
Both a tribute to classic American gangster films and the source of inspiration for French New Wave filmmakers, Bob le Flambeur is the first in a series of stylish noirs that Jean-Pierre Melville started in the mid-'50s. Co-scripted by the popular crime writer Auguste Le Breton (Rififi), this is a story of ex-bank robber and compulsive gambler Bob (Roger Duchesne), who plans a heist at the Deauville casino. As in many films of that genre, he assembles a team of old friends and new acquaintances to do the job and is determined to perform it despite all the odds that continue to pile up before him. The overall tone is admirably lighthearted, however, and despite many stylistic and thematic references to American caper movies, the whole enterprise remains genuinely French. "This is a kind of film that we want to make!" exclaimed the young and rebellious François Truffaut back in 1955. Jean-Luc Godard, in his turn, acknowledged Melville's influence, giving him an extended cameo in Breathless. ~ Yuri German, All Movie Guide
Review
A rich character study and an excellent "big heist" film (made before such films were in vogue), Bob le Flambeur is a gem of a movie that borrows from and anticipates many other films. Its prior influences are obvious, namely the American film noir movies that Hollywood produced in the 1940s and '50s and that made a tremendous impact on French filmmakers. And Bob's location shooting, use of improvisation, reliance on character actors and/or actors with little experience and extensive (although, in Bob, certainly not exclusive) use of natural light would all be echoed in the French New Wave films that would emerge a few years later. Yet in spite of all this, Bob remains uniquely and excitingly its own. For one thing, while it's as serious and in some ways as existential as any noir, it's also somehow lighthearted. The code that Bob lives by may be self-destructive, but it's also gentlemanly, and one feels that Bob enjoys living by it and does so willingly. Indeed, Bob is a complex and finely drawn character, and engages the audience's interest throughout; as a matter of fact, all of the characters share this trait, if to a lesser degree, despite the fact that they are all essentially familiar types we've seen elsewhere. Credit both Jean-Pierre Melville and Auguste Le Breton's precise screenplay and the cast's spot-on performances. Roger Duchesne, in the title role, is spectacular, an anchor who is strong without being showy. Avuncular, vulnerable, rueful, sweet, firm, melancholy, hopeful, and determined -- all at the same time -- Duchesne's work here is a simply superb. Isabelle Corey is perhaps limited as an actress, but she has the presence that the role requires, and no one could be as engaging as Daniel Cauchy. Melville's direction is also impeccable; even the few false moves are still the right moves. He has remarkable control throughout, no small feat considering that the movie was filmed "patchwork" style -- a few days here and there -- over the course of two years, and Henri Decaë's cinematography is a beautiful triumph. Those who have never met Bob should immediately seek him out; it's no gamble that they will be well rewarded for the effort. ~ Craig Butler, All Movie Guide
Bob, a middle-aged gambler and thief living in the Montmartre district of Paris, experiences a run of bad luck that leaves him nearly broke. Bob is a gentleman with scruples, well-liked in the demi-monde community. He has unsuccessfully tried to rob a bank in the past, and has spent time in prison. He hears through a croupier friend that the Deauville Casino holds undreamed-of quantities of cash, vulnerable in the early morning hours. Bob develops a complicated scheme to steal it, bringing in a tough but naive young protege and an ace safecracker into his scheme, along with a few other underworld characters. Bob also becomes involved with a young woman, Anne, who does not have her own place to stay and stays with any man who can take her off the streets. Later, Anne begins spending time with Bob's friend and partner-in-crime, Paolo. Meanwhile, Inspector Ledru of the local police, whom Bob once saved from death, gets a hint that Bob is involved in something big - but the snitch is gunned down just as he is about to confirm the specifics. Paolo trusts Anne and tells her the plot in which he is involved with Bob. However, in the evening of the planned heist, Anne betrays the gang to Ledru without realizing that it was supposed to be a secret. Ledru searches Bob's Montmartre haunts to warn him off the plan - in vain. At the casino, Bob gambles while nominally casing the scene. A phenomenal winning streak ensues that lasts all night. This is the dance with Lady Luck he has waited for all his life. While gambling, he forgets all about the plan, rejoicing in his winnings. Suddenly, he realizes it is the appointed hour of 5:00 AM. Bob is startled, hurriedly cashes in his immense cache of chips and exits the casino floor. Just as his gang arrives, Ledru and the police descend and the shooting starts. Bob rushes out of the casino, in time to cradle his dying protege, Paolo, for a brief moment, then is handcuffed and arrested, just as the casino employees trundle out his pile of cash winnings. His cash is loaded into the boot of Inspector Ledru's car. It is strongly implied that his lucky streak will hold, and he will get off with little or no jail time, perhaps even suing the police for damages--while the beautiful Anne, no longer off-limits to Bob because of his friendship with Paolo, waits for him at his apartment.
Vincent Canby, writing for The New York Times in 1981, noted "Melville's affection for American gangster movies may have never been as engagingly and wittily demonstrated as in Bob le Flambeur, which was only the director's fourth film, made before he had access to the bigger budgets and the bigger stars (Jean-Paul Belmondo, Alain Delon) of his later pictures.[2]
The film received positive reviews when re-released by Rialto Pictures in US cinemas in 2001, earning a 96 percent "Cream Of The Crop" rating on Rotten Tomatoes, a website that collects film reviews.[3]
