The Italian robbery... - Hello, commissariat? Look, there's a bank robbery here!
The first part of the dilogy of the Italian director Marco Vicario - the genre of which, paraphrasing some definitions, can be called the ornate word "spaghetti caper". That is, Italian cinema with a thorough description of the robbery process. The main difference of this genre from the more serious American and French counterparts is the cheapness of the budget and comedy notes in the style of the narrative. And on robbery in Italian films of this kind, more often go dealers, and not hard gangster professionals, as in numerous Hollywood noirs. Although the plot canvas, sins some patterns and cliches inherent in such films of the 60s, such as the mandatory presence of the brain of the operation, gangs of stupid performers and fatal beauty. The picture is not without original ideas. For example, the names of all seven robbers begin with the letter “A”, plus all seven are from different countries. I will not disclose the details of the ingenious plan of the robbery, but the pretentiousness of the execution, it also surprised. And the encroachment on the untouchability of the gold reserve of the Swiss bank, in the movies you will not find so often. It should also be added that the episode with a radio amateur who caught the frequency of negotiations of thieves and called the police, was later successfully borrowed from here for the film “Robbery on Baker Street” with Jason Statham.
As you can see, our gold is safe and sound, nothing to worry about.
Of the pluses of the picture, I note the cheerful unobtrusive soundtrack of the beautiful Italian composer Armando Trovaioli, bringing a sense of lightness to the narrative. I especially liked the song “Seven Golden Men”, perfectly performed by Alessandro Alessandroni’s vocal group “I Cantori Moderni”. I also enjoyed a good international cast. Of course, the main decoration of the film, of course, was the director's wife, the beautiful Rossan Podesta, who became famous before that in the legendary Robert Wise's Helen of Troy. Perfectly performed the role of a cunning professor and French actor Philippe Leroy. But out of the seven robbers, it was quite difficult to single out one person, but I most liked Giampiero Albertini, remembered for his role as Francisco’s brother in the famous Zorro with Alain Delon. Here he played the role of Portuguese Agusto. By the way, this picture was the first in the long film career of the famous Italian actor Adalberto Maria Merly, who lit up in a small episode in the image of a customs officer. Of the curious moments amused by the mass slaughter in the final, against the background of the Colosseum, staged with a fair amount of humor. Overall, the picture looks interesting. I will add that a year later, director Marco Vicario shot the continuation of this film “Seven Golden Boys Strike Back” and all with the same cast.
8 out of 10