''A Man Named Rocca'' (french: Un nommé La Rocca, it, Quello che spara per primo) is a 1961 French-Italian crime-thriller film directed by Jean Becker and starring

Jean Paul Belmondo Jean-Paul Charles Belmondo (; 9 April 19336 September 2021) was a French actor and producer. Initially associated with the New Wave of the 1960s, he was a major French film star for several decades from the 1960s onward. His best known credits ...

. It is based on the 1958 novel ''L'Excommunié'' by José Giovanni. Belmondo appeared in another film version of this novel in 1972, directed by Giovanni, called '' Bad Luck''.

Plot

Roberto La Rocca is an ex-gangster who is told by "The Mexican" that his friend Xavier Adé has been imprisoned for a murder he did not commit. He goes to Marseilles to meet Adé's partner Villanova. Rocca suspect that Villanova is involved in the frame up and seduces his mistress Maud. He shoots and kills Villanova and takes over the gambling club run by Xavier and Villanova. Rocca falls in love with Adé's sister, Genevieve. Xavier is found guilty and sentenced to ten years in prison. When gangsters threaten the club, Rocca shoots them and is sentenced to prison too. In prison, Rocca and Xavier volunteer to clear land mines. Xavier loses an arm because of this. When they get out, Rocca and Genevieve plan to buy a farm together. However, Genevieve is killed in a shoot out caused by Xavier. The friendship between Rocca and Xavier is over.

Cast

Jean-Paul Belmondo Jean-Paul Charles Belmondo (; 9 April 19336 September 2021) was a French actor and producer. Initially associated with the New Wave of the 1960s, he was a major French film star for several decades from the 1960s onward. His best known credits ...

as Roberto La Rocca *

Christine Kaufmann Christine Maria Kaufmann (; 11 January 1945 – 28 March 2017) was a German-Austrian actress, author, and businesswoman. The daughter of a German father and a French mother, she won the Golden Globe Award for New Star of the Year – Actress f ...

as Geneviève Adé *

Pierre Vaneck Pierre Vaneck (born Pierre Auguste Van Hecke; 15 April 1931 – 31 January 2010) was a French actor. During his career, he won a Molière Award in 1988 and received a César Award nomination in 2009. Biography Son of a Belgian army officer, ...

as Xavier Adé * Béatrice Altariba as Maud * Henri Virlogeux as Ficelle * Pedro Serano as Migli * Mario David as Charlot l'élégant * Charles Moulin as Cipriano *

Jean-Pierre Darras Jean-Pierre Darras (1927–1999) was a French actor. Filmography 1927 births 1999 deaths Deaths from cancer in France French film directors French monarchists Male actors from Paris People from Val-de-Marne French male film actors ...

as Nevada *

Claude Piéplu Claude Léon Auguste Piéplu (9 May 1923, Paris–24 May 2006, Paris) was a French theater, film and television actor. He was known for his hoarse and frayed voice. Selected filmography *''D'homme à hommes'' (1948) - (uncredited) *'' Le R ...

as le directeur de la prison *

Michel Constantin Michel Constantin (born Constantin Hokhloff, 13 July 1924 – 29 August 2003) was a French film actor. Biography Born to a Russian father and a Polish mother in Billancourt (near Paris), Constantin made his first film appearance in 1956. ...

as le chef des racketteurs américains * Frédéric Lambre as Fanfan * Claude Jaeger as Fernand l'Italien *

Gérard Hernandez Julio Gerardo "Gérard" Hernandez (born 20 January 1933) is a Spanish-born French actor. Biography Hernandez was born in Valladolid, Spain and was naturalized French only in 1975. He is mostly famous for his mustache and for having voiced seve ...

as un détenu démineur *

Henri Arius Henri Arius (1897–1968) was a French film and stage actor. Crisp p.176 A character actor he appeared in a large number of films in wartime and post-war France. Selected filmography * '' Jeannou'' (1943) * '' Rooster Heart'' (1946) * '' Inspe ...

as le chef responsable du cachot de la prison * Edmond Beauchamp as l'avocat de Xavier *

Jacques Léonard Jacques Léonard (born December 2, 1936) is a Canadian accountant, educator, and politician in the province of Quebec. He served in the National Assembly of Quebec from 1976 to 1985 and again from 1989 to 2001 and was a cabinet minister in the go ...

as le joueur qui refuse de partir *

Dominique Zardi Dominique Zardi (born Emile Jean Cohen-Zardi; 2 March 1930 – 13 December 2009) was a French actor from Paris. He acted in more than 200 feature films, including '' Fantômas'' with Louis De Funès and Jean Marais. He died of cancer at the age of ...

as le prisonnier sautant sur une mine *

Leroy Haynes Leroy Haynes (1914–1986) was an expat American restaurateur and actor who resided in Paris, France. As an actor, he appeared in ''The Butterfly Affair'', ''Bons Baisers de Hong Kong'', and ''Ace High''. His restaurant, Chez Haynes was a well known ...

Nico Naftiran Intertrade Company limited (NICO) is a Swiss-based subsidiary of the National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC). NICO is a general contractor for the oil and gas industry. NIOC buys the vast majority of Iran's gasoline imports. NICO is a key pl ...

as sunbathing model

References

External links

*
''A Man Named Rocca''
at Le Film Guide Films based on works by José Giovanni Films directed by Jean Becker French crime thriller films 1961 films Films with screenplays by José Giovanni 1961 directorial debut films 1960s French films Italian crime thriller films 1960s Italian films {{1960s-France-film-stub