Dierctor Henri Verneuil and actor Alain Delon - Mélodie en Sous-Sol © Keystone / Getty Images
Mélodie en sous-sol (Any Number Can Win): a hold-up by the book à la Henri Verneuil
A duo at the top of their game formed by Jean Gabin and Alain Delon, the cheeky dialog of Michel Audiard, and a story about a hold-up in Cannes: Mélodie en sous-sol (Any Number Can Win) (1963) brings together with a bang all the ingredients of a slickly crafted crime film. Henri Verneuil crashes the party at Cinéma de la plage.
Gabin (Charles), an old crook just out of prison, tries to pull off one last “score” before retiring to Canberra, Australia. His target? A billion French Francs. Alain Delon (Francis Verlot), an unscrupulous young thug, poses as a playboy with a thing for Scandinavian dancers for the purposes of the job. For the setting, the Palm Beach Casino in Cannes provides the desired contrast with Charles’ cement house in Sarcelles. Written using classic jargon, the dialogs of Michel Audiard provide a snarky cohesion to it all, fostered by quality supporting roles such as the bawdy barman played by the young Jean Carmé.
In the best style of crime films, Mélodie en sous-sol (Any Number Can Win) also offers the audience twenty minutes of highly entertaining suspense. An excellent reason for the audience to hold its breath at Cinéma de la plage, set up underneath the stars.
The director of Escale au Soleil, In Compétition during the second Festival de Cannes in 1947, 100 000 Dollars au soleil (Greed in the Sun) (1964), and Week-end à Zuydcoote (Weekend at Dunkirk) (1964) adapts, in his trademark style, the dark novel by John Trinian into a crime film at its best.
