Name: To Be a Crook
Released: 1967
Cast: Jean-pierre Kalfon, Amidou Ben Messoud, Pierre Barouh, Jacques Portet, Janine Magnan

Cast & Crew

Film Details

Also Known As

Une fille et des fusils

Release Date

Jan 1967

Premiere Information

New York opening: 6 Feb 1967

Production Company

Films de la Pléïade; Les Films Treize

Distribution Company

Comet Film Distributors; International Entertainment Corp.

Country

France

Synopsis

Four young men working in an automobile factory in Paris--Jean-Pierre, Amidou, Pierrot, and Jacques--decide to quit their jobs and devote themselves to crime. Influenced by the numerous gangster and western films they have seen, they begin by trying to master judo, karate, marksmanship, and horsemanship. Their only companion is Jacques' girl friend, Martine, a deafmute artist. The four begin to test their skills in stealing and shoplifting, but they fail in an effort to steal a prostitute's dog. Next, they battle with a neighborhood gang but are defeated. Finally, they plan the kidnaping from a location set of a "famous movie star," but instead they seize the star's stand-in. The film's producer conceals the mistake for the sake of the publicity and arranges to pay the ransom for the return of the actress. The money is to be paid in daylight on a main thoroughfare, but the presence of a policeman investigating the double parking causes the foursome to panic and start shooting, hitting the policeman and some bystanders. The four youths and Martine flee to an abandoned quarry, where they begin to argue about what to do. Two want to surrender, but the others are in favor of fleeing to South America. Their argument turns into a gun battle; and as Martine stares at the four apparently dead bodies, they suddenly get up and laugh. [In the original French version, the four men die.]