Of course, the previous adaptation of David Goodis' novel and directed by Paul Wendkos, starring Dan Duryea, was closer, more faithful to the book, especially in the spirit. But this version is absolutely outstanding, from every angle: camera work, acting, editing. A pure jewel from the seventies and one of Verneuil(s best. The climax seems very similar to Peter Weir's WITNESS. One more thing, in his previous film: LE CLAN DES SICILIENS, Verneuil set the gangsters headquarters in a pinball warehouse; and in this movie, the gangsters hide out is a toy ware house, or factory. And I nearly forgot to mention amazing Ennio Morricone's score. The restaurant scene between the two enemies is absolutely exquisite, as much as the cuisine, the Greek cuisine, which Omar Sharif talks about. I guess this is the most famous restaurant scene in a crime movie with of course HEAT - remember the Pacino, De Niro sequence too. A reference.

The first twenty minutes of "The Burglars" concerns a highly complex and detailed home invasion/safe robbery, with four crooks in Greece making off with a million dollars worth of emeralds; unfortunately for them, the chief investigator on the case is playing both sides of the law, and he's onto them from the start. Based on David Goodis' novel "The Burglar", and previously filmed in the U.S. under that title in 1957, this caper has such a meticulously mounted set-up that it's a bit strange to have it change gears almost immediately into a chase-laden cat-and-mouse game (with amusingly derivative elements). Dyan Cannon is used as (very lovely) window-dressing, but the real flirting comes between master thief Jean-Paul Belmondo and crooked cop Omar Sharif (they share a Greek meal together that is so specific, it's hard to believe the intimate tension wasn't unintentional). Some of the action is truly hair-raising, and the film is generally good-natured and well-made, if familiar. **1/2 from ****

Le Casse is an original cop & thieves movie, taking place in an unusual and exotic location (Greece) which adds to its strange atmosphere. Indeed, although the screenplay is a little bit weak at times, it's basically the story of a wide-scale duel between two men who are ready to fight to their last breath for wealth and glory. The duellists use the whole city for their confrontation, and the outstanding score of Ennio Morricone is here to indicate that the base line of the movie is not that far away from that of Sergio Leone's westerns: Le Casse is about human greed, tenacity and, in a certain way, sense of honour.

Le Casse also makes me think of "Bullit". They're both slow-paced action movies with occasional explosions of violence. They're both quite silent (Belmondo does not talk more than Mc Queen)and the silence is punctuated by a very smart and eerie music which says more than any dialogue.

**SPOILER**

A viewer from Mexico made a remark regarding the car chase. He said it had no real connection to the story, because when Sharif finally catches up with Belmondo, they just exchange a few words and drive away. The reason why is that Sharif only wanted to know if Belmondo had the stolen emeralds with him in the car (which was not the case) because he wanted to get them before Belmondo hid them. He lets him go then because he knows where to find him. A few minutes, later, indeed, we see Sharif at the toys' warehouse. Now remember that during the robbery, the night before, Sharif opened the car of Belmondo and saw the toys: we can assume that he knew where they stored.