To the Ghost of Mario Monicelli, Come sta andando? I really enjoyed Big Deal in Madonna Street. So many filmmakers have stolen your ethos right from Woody Allen to George Clooney and the Coens to some really awful Indian filmmakers. You had me right from the title sequence with the too thieves walking in the shadows towards the car. There were some really interesting camera angles and directorial flourishes (like the way the camera moved when the kids are playing the stick game) throughout the whole film. It also had an interesting structure with you introducing the two apparent protagonists at the beginning but soon both of them slip into the background. Your film was like a slightly slap-sticky and hilarious rendering of Italian neo-realism. The bumbling and imbecilic working class characters not only evoked sympathy and adoration, but also a sense of desolation. This was foregrounded in the final scene when the old man is left all alone in the street after Vittorio Gasman's character is pulled in (seemingly not by accident?) with the other workers.Best Regards, Pimpin. (9/10)

As a genre, "Italian comedy films" present a different facet of Italian cinema. These films are about an imperfect Italian society where people would like to get involved in self mockery (auto derision) as it enables them to correct weaknesses related to their behavior. "Big deal on Madonna Street" is about a small group of small time criminals from different backgrounds who make various plans to crack the safe of a pawnshop. After the end of second war world, Italy was in an absolute mess. Its ordinary people suffered the most as they did not have any jobs. This compelled many people to make quick money by stealing whatever that was available to be stolen. Apart from Dino Risi, Mario Monicelli is hailed by critics and public as the undisputed master of Italian comedy films. However, he mixed a great deal of dramatic elements in "I Soliti Ignoti". Monicelli shows how difficult things seem to appear when one is in the planning stages of a crime as people are beset by personal problems. Apart from depicting the universal sociological truth that "crime never pays", Monicelli's film also questions why some people do not want to work ?

A group of inept small-time crooks plans to rob a pawn shop. It seems most of the film is devoted to the exposition. We get to know a little about every member of the motley crew, but none of them leads a life that is the least bit interesting. It's meant to be parody of caper films, particularly "Rififi," an Italian film released three years earlier, except that there is nothing funny here. It's mostly dull and goes on far too long. The ineptitude is not limited to the crooks; the writer and director are guilty of it too. It is interesting mainly for seeing Cardinale in just her second role and Mastroianni on the verge of becoming a big star.

I suspect that it's hard to find this gem for rental purposes, which is a shame. A take-off on the classic French film noir, Rififi, it stands up wonderfully and deserves greater recognition. Monicelli is too little known as a director in the US, I think. Louis Malle attempted a remake of this some years back, to disastrous effect, and now there's a new attempt out, called "Welcome to Collinswood"; my hunch is that, while it might be better than the Malle version, it won't match the original. A group of bumbling small-time thieves plan and try to execute a heist, but nothing goes right. As the gang's leader, a punchy boxer with more attitude than ability, Vittorio Gassmann is wonderful, as is everyone else in the cast. Special notice should be given to the marvelous character comedian, Toto, and--in a small role, buried well down in the credits, the young Marcello Mastroianni. Also featured is another youngster, Claudia Cardinale. If you've seen Rififi, you'll find this comedy a particular joy. If you haven't, you'll like it, anyway. Why doesn't someone rerelease this?