''Du rififi chez les femmes'' ("The Riff Raff Girls") is a French-Italian film directed by

Alex Joffé Alex Joffé (18 November 1918 – 18 August 1995) was a French film director and screenwriter, known for ''Les cracks'' (1968), ''Fortunat'' (1960) and ''La grosse caisse'' (1965). He was the father of the director Arthur Joffé, as well as Mari ...

and released in

1959 Events January * January 1 - Cuba: Fulgencio Batista flees Havana when the forces of Fidel Castro advance. * January 2 - Lunar probe Luna 1 was the first man-made object to attain escape velocity from Earth. It reached the vicinity of E ...

Plot

Brussels Brussels (french: Bruxelles or ; nl, Brussel ), officially the Brussels-Capital Region (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) (french: link=no, Région de Bruxelles-Capitale; nl, link=no, Bruss ...

, rival criminal gangs confront each other. One is led by Vicky, proprietor of a nightclub on a barge; the other by Bug, who wants to reign over the lucrative nightlife business. Vicky and her gang, who are planning a bank raid, are going to see their plans confounded by Bug. In effect, he is being manipulated by a police officer who forces him to help break up a drug trafficking deal in return for keeping his residence in

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...

. Bug and Yoko will strongly compromise the bank raid, believing that it is linked to the drugs.

Book

The film is based on the

Auguste Le Breton Auguste Le Breton (born Auguste Monfort 18 February 1913 – 31 May 1999) was a French novelist who wrote primarily about the criminal underworld. His novels were adapted into several notable films of the 1950s, such as ''Rififi'', ''Razzia su ...

novel, ''Du rififi chez les femmes'', published in 1957 and reprinted in 2010.Éditions Plon web site
Du rififi chez les femmes
(accessed 11 February 2012)

Production

* Director:

* Screenplay: Alex Joffé,

José Giovanni José Giovanni (22 June 1923, Paris, France – 24 April 2004, Lausanne, Switzerland) was the pseudonym of Joseph Damiani, a French writer and film-maker of Corsican origin who became a naturalized Swiss citizen in 1986. A former collaborationi ...

, Gabriel Arout, James-Jacques Mage and

from his novel ''Du rififi chez les femmes'' (1957,

Presses de la Cité Presses de la Cité is a French publishing company founded in 1943 by Sven Nielsen, the son and grandson of booksellers, who came to Paris in 1924. Before becoming a publisher, Nielsen specialised in exporting French books. In 1988, with its me ...

) * Dialogue: Auguste Le Breton * Music:

Louiguy Louis Guglielmi (3 April 1916 – 4 April 1991), known by his pen name Louiguy (), was a Spanish-born French musician of Italian descent. He wrote the melody for Édith Piaf's lyrics of "La Vie en Rose" and the Latin jazz composition "Ceris ...

* Song: ''Rififi'', words by

Charles Aznavour Charles Aznavour ( , ; born Shahnour Vaghinag Aznavourian, hy, Շահնուր Վաղինակ Ազնավուրեան, ; 22 May 1924 – 1 October 2018) was a French-Armenian singer, lyricist, actor and diplomat. Aznavour was known for his dist ...

and music by Louiguy, sung by

Nadja Tiller Nadja Tiller (born 16 March 1929 in Vienna, Austria) is an Austrian actress. She was one of the most popular German-speaking actresses of international films of the 1950s and 1960s. Biography Nadja Tiller, daughter of actor Anton Tiller of Vie ...

* Director of photography:

Pierre Montazel Pierre Montazel (5 March 1911 – 8 September 1975) was a French cinematographer and screenwriter.Kay Weniger: ''Das große Personenlexikon des Films.'' Berlin 2001, Band 5, S. 520 Selected filmography * '' Vidocq'' (1939) * ''Sing Anyway'' (1940 ...

* Camera Operator: Alain Douarinou * Sound: Joseph de Bretagne * Editing: Léonide Azar * Set Design: Rino Mondellini * Costumes:

Pierre Balmain Pierre Alexandre Claudius Balmain (; 18 May 1914 – 29 June 1982) was a French fashion designer and founder of leading post-war fashion house Balmain (fashion house), Balmain. Known for sophistication and elegance, he described the art of dre ...

* Stills photographer: Walter Limot * Country: France, Italy * Filming: ** Language:

French French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents ** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...

** Interiors: Studios de Boulogne-Billancourt (

Hauts-de-Seine Hauts-de-Seine (; ) is a Departments of France, département in the Île-de-France Regions of France, region, Northern France. It covers Paris's western inner Banlieue, suburbs. It is bordered by Paris, Seine-Saint-Denis and Val-de-Marne to the e ...

) ** Exteriors: Brussels * Producer: James-Jacques Mage * Director of production:

Jacques Plante Joseph Jacques Omer Plante (; January 17, 1929 – February 27, 1986) was a Canadian professional ice hockey goaltender. During a career lasting from 1947 to 1975, he was considered to be one of the most important innovators in hockey. He played ...

* Production companies: Les Productions de l'Étoile, Dismage, Transalpina, Technostampa * Distribution company: Cinedis * Aspect ratio:

black and white Black-and-white (B&W or B/W) images combine black and white in a continuous spectrum, producing a range of shades of grey. Media The history of various visual media began with black and white, and as technology improved, altered to color. ...

— 35 mm — 1:37.1 —

monaural Monaural or monophonic sound reproduction (often shortened to mono) is sound intended to be heard as if it were emanating from one position. This contrasts with stereophonic sound or ''stereo'', which uses two separate audio channels to reproduc ...

* Genre:

Crime film Crime films, in the broadest sense, is a film genre inspired by and analogous to the crime fiction literary genre. Films of this genre generally involve various aspects of crime and its detection. Stylistically, the genre may overlap and combine ...

* Length: 110 min * Release date: 20 May 1959

Cast

: Vicky *

Robert Hossein Robert Hossein (30 December 1927 – 31 December 2020) was a French film actor, director, and writer. He directed the 1982 adaptation of ''Les Misérables'' and appeared in ''Vice and Virtue'', '' Le Casse'', ''Les Uns et les Autres'' and ''Ve ...

: Marcel Point-Bleu *

Silvia Monfort Silvia Monfort (born Simone Marguerite Favre-Bertin; 6 June 1923 – 30 March 1991) was a French actress and theatre director. She was the daughter of the sculptor Charles-Maurice Favre-Bertin and the wife of Pierre Gruneberg. She was named a ...

: Yoko *

Roger Hanin Roger is a given name, usually masculine, and a surname. The given name is derived from the Old French personal names ' and '. These names are of Germanic origin, derived from the elements ', ''χrōþi'' ("fame", "renown", "honour") and ', ' ( ...

: Bug *

Pierre Blanchar Pierre Blanchar (30 June 1892 – 21 November 1963) was a French actor. He appeared in more than 50 films between 1922 and 1961. Blanchar was married to actress Marthe Vinot, with whom he had a daughter, actress Dominique Blanchar. He playe ...

: "Le Pirate" *

Françoise Rosay Françoise Rosay (; born Françoise Bandy de Nalèche; 19 April 1891 – 28 March 1974) was a French opera singer, diseuse,''Design'', Volume 9 1965 p. 24 and actress who enjoyed a film career of over sixty years and who became a legendary figure ...

: Berthe *

Jean Gaven Jean Gaven (16 January 1918 – 5 May 2014) was a French actor. He appeared in more than sixty films between 1945 and 1996. Life and career Born in Saint-Rome-de-Cernon, France on January 16, 1922, Gaven began acting sometime after the end of W ...

: James *

Eddie Constantine Eddie Constantine (born Edward Israël Constantinowsky; October 29, 1917 – February 25, 1993) was an American singer, actor and entertainer who spent most of his career in France. He became well-known to film audiences for his portrayal of se ...

: Williams *

Georges Rigaud Pedro Jorge Rigato Delissetche,George Rigaud

: "Le Marquis" *

Daniel Emilfork Daniel Emilfork (7 April 1924 – 17 October 2006) was a Chilean stage and film actor who made his career in France. Biography Emilfork was born in San Felipe, Chile after his Jewish socialist parents from Kiev fled a pogrom in Odessa. At a ...

: Luigi * Wayne Van Voorhes : Chicago, the Sicilian * André Cellier : the transporter * Denise Clair : Prune *

Michel Galabru Michel Louis Edmond Galabru (27 October 19224 January 2016) was a French actor. Career Galabru appeared in more than 250 films and worked with directors such as Bertrand Blier, Costa-Gavras, Luc Besson (for '' Subway''), and Jean-Luc Godard. ...

Lucien Raimbourg Lucien Raimbourg (1903–1973) was a French film, stage and television actor. He appeared in the original performance of Samuel Beckett's '' Waiting for Godot''.Blair p.421 Selected filmography * '' L'affaire est dans le sac'' (1932) - Le clien ...

Maurice Garrel Maurice Garrel (24 February 1923 – 4 June 2011) was a French film actor. Garrel was born in Saint-Servais, Isère. He appeared in over a hundred films and was nominated twice for a César Award for best supporting actor: in 1991 for ''La ...

* Carlo Campanini *

Tiberio Murgia Tiberio Murgia (5 February 1929 – 20 August 2010) was an Italian film actor. He appeared in more than 100 films between 1958 and 2009. Biography Born into a humble family, Murgia began working as a laborer from an early age. At the age of ...

* René Alone *

Isaac Alvarez Isaac Alvarez (26 July 1930 – 3 November 2020) was a French actor, mime, and choreographer. He founded the École du théâtre du mouvement in Paris in 1956 alongside Jacques Lecoq. In 1981, he founded the Théâtre du Moulinage in Lussas. Bio ...

* Léopoldo Francès *

Liliane de Kermadec Liliane de Kermadec (6 October 1928 – 13 February 2020) was a Polish-French film director and screenwriter. She directed more than twenty films and documentaries between 1965 and 2016. Career Liliane de Kermadec began as a set photographe ...

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 Ro ...

Anne-Marie Coffinet Anne-Marie Rose Nicholson (born 7 April 1991) is an English singer. She has attained charting singles on the UK Singles Chart, including Clean Bandit's " Rockabye", which peaked at number one, as well as "Alarm", "Ciao Adios", "Friends", "2002 ...

André Berthomieu André Berthomieu (16 February 1903 – 10 April 1960) was a French screenwriter and film director. He was married to the actress Line Noro. Selected filmography Director * '' Not So Stupid'' (1928) * '' The Crime of Sylvestre Bonnard'' (1929) * ...

Yves Barsacq Yves Barsacq (17 June 1931 – 4 October 2015) was a French film actor, who appeared in more than 150 films. He is the son of the French-Russian production designer Léon Barsacq and the nephew of the French theatre director André Barsacq. ...

References

External links

* {{José Giovanni 1959 crime films French heist films Films based on French novels Films based on works by Auguste Le Breton French black-and-white films 1959 films French gangster films Italian gangster films Films with screenplays by José Giovanni 1950s heist films 1950s French-language films 1950s Italian films 1950s French films