Big Deal on Madonna Street (1958) User Reviews (34)

Very funny caper movie.

[rmax304823 · 8/10 · 22 March 2006]

An ensemble movie with multiple minor stories built around the main theme of a big heist on Madonna Street. Half a dozen or so hapless crooks decide to apply "scientific methods" to their plan to sneak through coal chutes and over rooftops into a vacant apartment. They will then use a car jack to break through a wall into the office next door where a fortune is stashed away in a safe. That's about as far as medical discretion will allow me to go in revealing the plot.

There have been many carefully planned caper movies, before and after this one, like "The Asphalt Jungle." Some have even been turned into comedies, like Woody Allan's "Small Time Crooks." But this was one of the first I'm aware of that turned the caper movie into a ridiculous farce.

I think I'll give one example of the kind of gags you can expect, to illustrate the style. To get to the vacant apartment the thieves must tiptoe across a skylight in the middle of the night and climb through a window on the other side. They are slipping along the metal framework, cursing each other, when suddenly blinding lights go on in the room underneath them and they must throw themselves flat on the glass to avoid detection. A young couple enter the room below and begin a loud argument about whether she really loves him and whether he's been unfaithful to her. The accusations are shouted back and forth, while 10 feet above them the immobilized gang alternately doze and gesture impatiently at one another as their carefully plotted timetable is all shot to hell.

Well, alright, one more. One of the gang, a master photographer, Marcello Maistroianni, is assigned to make a movie of the opening of the safe, shooting from across the rooftops through an open window, so the combination will be registered on film. The gang watch the resulting film and moan while pairs of underpants on a clothesline drift across the office window and there are inserts of the photographer's baby crying. At the moment the combination is to be revealed the film stutters and slips off its sprockets.

I can't help it. Stop me before I describe more. Okay -- last one. Two men have an argument in which a knife is produced. They fling angry insults back and forth, and one of them departs, slamming the wooden door behind him. The remaining man sneers at the door and hurls the knife at it. The knife doesn't stick, it bounces off.

It's really impossible to recommend this too highly. What a lot of fun.

Italy's clumsy heist

[lee_eisenberg · 9/10 · 8 February 2020]

One day, there's gonna have to be a festival for heist-themed movies. "The Killing", "Topkapi", "The Italian Job", "The Bank Job" and the Ocean franchise are obvious entries, but Mario Monicelli's Academy Award-nominated "Big Deal on Madonna Street" ("I soliti ignoti" in the original Italian) also needs to be in there. Unlike most of the heist-themed movies - either lighthearted comedies or film noirs - this one is a farce. Basically, all sorts of mishaps befall the criminals in the process of the planning and execution. Talk about commedia dell'arte!

This strikes me as one movie that they had a lot of fun filming, and I highly recommend it. Don't listen to anyone who's not interested in watching old movies/black and white movies/foreign movies. If ever there were one of those movies that you have to see, it's this one. It's a mamma mia of the best type!

Madcap petty criminal hijinks in postwar Italy

[DennisLittrell · 9/10 · 1 June 2007]

Tall, handsome Vittorio Gassman stars as Peppe, the womanizing glass-jawed palooka who, along with several keystone criminals, stumblebum their way to...not much. Also featured in this comedy by Italian film legend Mario Monicelli are Marcello Mastroianni and Claudia Cardinale, who would go on to fame and fortune, but here have only modest parts. Mastroianni, who would later star in La Dolce Vita (1960), Il Bell'Antonio (1960), Divorzio all'italiana (1961) and many others, plays Tiberio a photographer without a camera, whose wife is in jail, who has a constantly crying baby to take care of with one of his arms up in a sling with a board under it. Cardinale, who would go on to become one of Italy's most famous beauty bombshells, plays Carmelina, a young woman locked up by her brother in order to protect her honor until she marries.

Also featured are Carla Gravina (Nicoletta), a very pretty 17-year-old who went on to only a modest career, and the veteran Toto who plays the incompetent safecracker, Dante Cruciani. Notable is Renato Salvatori as Mario who wins Carmelina's heart, Memmo Carotenuto as Cosimo who fails at purse-snatching, and Carlo Pisacane as Capannelle who looks like an aged member of the Bowery Boys.

The story begins when Cosimo is caught trying to steal a car. In prison he learns of a nice sting that he can pull off if only he can get out of jail. So he tries to hire a scapegoat to confess to the crime so he can be freed. Finally Peppe, after getting knocked out in the first round of a prize fight, decides he needs the money. However when he goes to confess, the police see through the ruse and throw him in jail without releasing Cosimo. But Peppe does get out, and he and the motley assortment of would-be jewel thieves plot their crime amid hilarious missteps, pratfalls and mass confusion as they break into an apartment that they have the keys for to knock down a wall (which wall?) to gain access to a safe they probably can't crack. Will they succeed despite all the mishaps? There is a sense of both recovery and poverty in post World War II Italy in the backdrops and the asides and the circumstances of the characters that lend to this comedy a realistic edge. We see the petty thievery as an understandable and almost acceptable way of life, at least for the time being. Mario always buys or steals three identical things for his "mother" who turns out to be three women who raised him at the orphanage. Tiberio has to sell his camera and then steal one. Skinny Capannelle is always eating. And in the jail several men share one cigarette while they blow the smoke into a bottle to capture it so that others might get a little nicotine as well! (Sure, and I have some gum I can recycle.) The Criterion Collection DVD that I viewed has excellent yellow subtitles, but some of the lines come so fast and with such comedic as well as denotative intent that it is easy to miss something. Knowing Italian would help! See this for all the "bumbling criminal" movies that it both imitated and inspired, and for the fine work by the talented cast.

(Note: Over 500 of my movie reviews are now available in my book "Cut to the Chaise Lounge or I Can't Believe I Swallowed the Remote!" Get it at Amazon!)

very funny, occasionally imitated, but never equalled

[Bobbyh-2 · 4 October 2002]

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?

A tender look at some incompetent incorrigibles

[rolee-1 · 10/10 · 21 July 2005]

One character approaches another to get him to take the rap for a crime. But he can't do it, so he suggests someone else. The third character can't do it either. Soon a half dozen people are in search of someone to take the rap. They eventually decide that they need someone without a previous criminal record. But none of them knows anyone without a criminal record.

I had no idea it was going to be a comedy when I first started watching it. By the end I was laughing out loud. It's a little slow, but many Italian movies are a little slow and caper films usually build slowly. But it is thoroughly enjoyable with some gags that I've never seen anywhere else in film. Cosimo's bank heist was very amusing.

If you've just recently watched The Bicycle Thief, and are depressed by the bleakness of life shown there, this movie is the perfect antidote. It shows the lighter side of people who are down on their luck.

absolute masterpiece!

[elvinjones · 10/10 · 27 June 2003]

"I soliti ignoti" is probably the movie I know better and one of the most beautiful pictures in the whole history of cinema. Wonderful charachters, fantastic plot (from "Ne touchez pas le Grisbi"), stupendous soundtrack, amazing screenplay, perfect photography. And funny, funny, funny, but realistic in the Italy of post war poorness. Gasmann plays the role that change his career; before this movie, nobody would believe that he was a brilliant comedy actor 'cause he was know only for dramas. Some unforgettable charachters, like Pisacane's Capannelle or Tiberio, a sicilan charachter played by a Sardinian ex dishwasher in the movie of their life. And Toto', incredible amazing in the role of the professor of crook. Is it possible for mr. Clooney to do anything better then him???

The Break-in of the Century

[aeolianknight · 10/10 · 29 March 2003]

I had seen "I Soliti Ignoti" a long time ago and I can't say that I remembered it well. But thanks the the Criterion Collection I came across it on DVD and have to say that it's one of the funniest films that I have ever seen.

A bunch of amateurish bunglers believing themselves to be capable thieves attempt a break-in of hilarious proportions. Gassman shines as Peppe the improvised leader of the pack, as these "Usual Suspects" move from one mishap to another.

Miss. Cardinale adds some real eye candy, as usual.

SEE IT!!!!!!!

Small time crooks

[jotix100 · 10/10 · 8 October 2006]

Cosimo, a small time criminal in Rome, decides to steal a car one night. He is too inept to get the job done, attracting the attention of the patrolling police. Landing in jail, Cosimo hears of a possibility for a caper, the only problem is, he still has to serve his time. With the help of his friends, a search for a man to come forward to confess to the actual crime would clear Cosimo. After asking around, without much success, Peppe, another street hustler, and womanizer, decides to do it for the money. Unfortunately, he ends up in jail and Cosimo too. Jail time proves to be an opportunity for Peppe to learn about the caper Cosimo has been so carefully planning.

When Peppe is released, he looks for the men that would have been involved with Cosimo in the original plan. They include an assortment of petty street criminals who have no experience in how to go about doing the job. Enter Dante, a master safe cracker, who for money, will teach the gang how to open the safe at one of Rome's pawn shops. The only problem with the plan, Dante will not participate, thus leaving everything to Peppe and the gang.

Peppe, who has met Nicoletta, the niece of the occupants of the apartment he thought was empty, has a short romance with the woman, from whom he learns when will the two old ladies be away. Involved in the gang is Mario, who discovers the beautiful Carmelina, sister of Ferribotti, a Sicilian man who is guarding her chaste for a possible good marriage. There is Tiberio, a photographer, whose wife is serving jail time and he is now taking care of his infant son. Campanelle, an inept older man who is always hungry, completes the gang.

When the big night for the heist arrives, everything that could gone wrong, and more, is what happens. The men have absolutely no clue as to what to do, therefore, their plan will never be put in action. At the end, the gang come out empty handed, not before Campanelle discovers a pot of pasta and chick peas, which he praises to the others, who soon share the dish with him, agreeing how delicious it was.

Mario Monicelli, the director, who also collaborated with the screen play, seemed to be doing a funny take off on the more serious "Rififi", directed by Jules Dassin. That's where the comparison ends. Mr. Monicelli was more interesting in capitalizing in the comic aspects of a serious caper with a bunch of lunatics that have no clue what they really want. The result is one of the best movies of the fifties. The director was blessed in bringing together some of the best of the Italian cinema of the era.

The wonderful Vittorio Gassman is Peppe, the man in charge of the caper. This legendary actor was at a great moment of his career, and although his character is not a serious one, he runs away with the film because he clearly understood what made Peppe tick. Toto, another magnificent actor plays Dante, who knows a thing, or two, about how to crack a safe. Renato Salvatori makes a good impression as Mario, who discovers he is in love with Carmelina. Marcello Mastroianni has a small role here, as Tiberio, the man with a wife in jail who must bring the infant son to all the gang meetings. Carlo Pisacane has some excellent moments as Campanelle. The same goes for Tiberio Murgia who as Ferribotte wants to protect his sister from all his male friends.

The women in the film have lesser roles to play, but they clearly show they understood the material well. Carla Gravina makes a great Nicoletta. Claudia Cardinali appears as Carmelina, and lastly, Rosanna Rory is seen as Norma, Cosimo's girlfriend.

The DVD we recently watched has been carefully transferred and looks as good as when the film was released. It helps that Monicelli employed cinematographer Gianni DiVenzano to capture his story in black and white. The jazzy score by Piero Umiliani goes along well with the action. Mario Monicelli directed with an eye for the picaresque in a film that is imitated, but never equaled.

Sort of like a rebuttal to "Rififi".

[planktonrules · 7/10 · 26 November 2010]

"Rififi" was a wonderful heist film and spurred on similar films like "Bob le Flambeur" and "Grand Slam". All these films showed elaborate robberies that were carried out with perfect precision. The teams were professional and highly skilled in each. However, with the Italian film "Big Deal on Madonna Street", we have a film that appears a lot like these other films but turns out to be a comedy of errors--where NOTHING goes right.

The film begins with a guy getting caught for a petty crime and sent to jail. The problem is that he has a good plan for a robbery that will make him rich--and he and his gang of inepts cannot do the heist. So, they find an idiot who is willing to take credit for the crime that the boss is in jail for so that he can be released. Well, things DON'T work as they plan...and that's pretty much the way the entire film goes.

This comedy is pleasant and enjoyable. However, I did not love the film and didn't quite enjoy it as much as the average viewer. It isn't that I disliked the film...it's just that it never really made me laugh out loud very often. It was funny...but only mildly so. Decent acting, however, and I did enjoy watching everyone yell so much....and made me wonder if this is in any way true of Italians (I sure assume it's not)!

Dressed to steal

[petra_ste · 10/10 · 3 March 2014]

Comedy is the hardest genre to do well. Put characters in a haunted house with a skilled director behind the camera, and you've got a passable horror. Get two appealing leads with a nice chemistry, and you've got a decent romance. A compelling premise and solid visual effects make a watchable sci-fi flick. And so on. But comedy is subtle and elusive. There are no safe, foolproof formulas: so many things have to work (characters, cast, dialogue, plot, pacing, direction...), and any flaw can be fatal and make the whole structure collapse.

I Soliti Ignoti is a gem: a character-driven, briskly paced parody of a heist movie with sharp dialogue and unforgettable vignettes. There's no fat on the bones, not a single wasted sequence. Characters are memorable, from Gassman's dim-witted leader (this was his first comedic performance, a revelation) who plans a great robbery but tragically overestimates his own cunning to his sarcastic right-hand man (Mastroianni), from solemn Sicilian rogue Ferribotte to ancient, clumsy, gluttonous, overly enthusiastic Capannelle. A cameo from Totò as a skeptical master thief is one of the many highlights of the movie.

While not as abrasive as the other great master of Italian comedy of those years (Pietro Germi), director Monicelli manages to squeeze in some caustic social commentary, as he examines with sympathy the urban underbelly of losers and social rejects.

A masterpiece, and among the gems of Italian cinema.

10/10

Humorous take on foibles of late 50s Italians

[Turfseer · 7/10 · 19 July 2011]

What's the 'big deal' about 'Big Deal on Madonna Street?" Well, it's a pretty amusing take on Italian Society in the late 50s. Strong suits include a bevy of neat character types, a plot that moves along at a saucy pace (except perhaps for a bit of a draggy denouement) and dialogue full of jokes, some of which are spot on and others that are probably lost in translation.

When a petty criminal, Cosimo, is locked up for breaking into a car, he soon gets wind inside the local jail, that there is safe full of jewels inside a pawnshop on Madonna Street in Rome, ripe for the taking. All he has to do is conscript his pals, gain entry into a vacant apartment next door and punch through a weak plaster wall, which leads directly to the safe in question. One problem remains: his sentence on the misdemeanor is keeping him locked up for months on end.

Cosimo calls upon an old geezer, ex-Jockey Capannelle, to find a 'scapegoat' who will confess to the crime and take his place in the lockup. Capannelle calls upon a motley group including Mario, a product of the Italian orphanage system, who is perennially unemployed, Michele Ferrite, a Sicilian hothead who keeps his sister under lock and key, ensuring that no man takes advantage of her and and Tiberio, an unemployed photographer who must take care of his infant son after his wife has been locked up for smuggling cigarettes. All these ne'er-do-wells refuse to accept Cosimo's cash offer of 100,000 lira as they all have records and will probably be given significant time despite pleading guilty to such a minor crime. They finally find a washed-up boxer, Peppe, who agrees to switch places with Cosimo. Both Cosimo and Peppe hit a snag when the sentencing Judge sees through the ruse and also sends Peppe to jail.

In one of the real neat scenes in the film, Peppe tricks Cosimo into revealing the location of the potential heist on Madonna Street. After returning from the sentencing Court, he acts as if he's been sentenced to three years and Cosimo suddenly takes pity on him, spilling the beans. Peppe then walks out laughing, indicating that in actuality, he's been sentenced to one year probation.

If there's one scene that doesn't work at all, it's when the crooks steal an old 8 millimeter movie camera from a flea market after Tiberio comes up with the lame brained idea of utilizing the camera's zoom lens to film the safe combination from a rooftop, as pawnshop employees can be seen periodically opening the safe through a window of the building across the street. The scheme is so ridiculous from the get go since it's obvious that no one could read the safe combination by using a cheap camera like that. I understand that the point is to show what a bumbling bunch this gang of crooks really is. Unfortunately, I believe, no one is THAT stupid and it reduces the characters to a bunch of buffoons.

Fortunately, that's only one scene and there are plenty of others that hit the mark. One very subtle jab at a certain 'character type' occurs after the group needs to raise money to hire a "professional" safe cracker to open the safe. Mario visits his "mother" and her friends, the other older women at the orphanage where he was raised. One very funny bit is when one of the women keeps insisting how ugly he is without any awareness of her lack of tact.

The story takes a darker turn during a short sequence when Cosimo, after his plan for the big heist has been stolen from him by his former pals, resorts to mugging women on the street and ends up being killed after being hit by a streetcar, following a chase by the police. The gang then gets together for his funeral and wax philosophical about the capriciousness of life. The unsophisticated Capannelle can only say something trite in front of his pals: "feast or famine".

Some judicious editing could have improved the final quarter of the film as the focus is on two long-winded subplots: Michele going after Mario who expresses his love for Michele's sister and Peppe's involvement with Nicoletta, who works for the two spinsters who inhabit the apartment which the gang must gain access to. I also felt the actual 'break-in' scene was much too long but after reading Wikipedia, I learned that it was designed to satirize "Rififi", a 1955 French heist film, which I have yet to see.

'Big Deal' ends nicely as there are no fatal consequences for any of the misguided group of thieves. After drilling through the wrong wall, they conclude that its best to abort the caper; but all's well that end's well, when they partake of leftovers in the refrigerator concocted by the endearing Nicoletta. Finally, Peppe gets his just desserts, when he's swept up in a crowd of men who are seeking work at a construction site—work, of course, is the last thing Peppe really wants to do but he has no choice to accept his fate.

'Big Deal on Madonna Street' perhaps suggests that the root of instability in society is tied to infidelity between men and women. Without a strong anchor (or shall we say, 'moral compass'), people are condemned to a lack of satisfaction precisely because of the lack of strong relationships between the sexes. Right after being locked up, Cosimo can only joke when he promises his girlfriend a fur coat if he and his confederates can pull off the big heist. His girlfriend replies she'd rather get married and Cosimo states he's only doing a few months and she wants to sentence him to life! It's a funny line, but indicative of something much more sad going on in 1958 Italy, and just as relevant to today's times as well.

Hopelessly Awful Crooks in a Perfect Comedy

[Eumenides_0 · 8/10 · 11 April 2010]

After enjoying Mario Monicelli's La Grande Guerra, I decided to continue to discover more of his work, and I wasn't disappointed. I Soliti Ignoti, although in a completely different genre, is as funny and elegant as his WWI satire.

I Soliti Ignoti is a send-up of caper movies. John Huston invented the caper in 1950 with The Asphalt Jungle, and Jules Dassin's Rififi reached its zenith in 1955. There was nothing new to do but to satirize the genre now.

The movie involves a group of incompetent, small-time crooks and thieves coming together to break into a pawn store and steal the safe full of money and jewels. The movie follows this idiosyncratic group planning the heist and trying to overcome the adversities that come up unexpectedly; plus they have to deal with their own private lives.

The characters are diverse and have their own little back story: there's Peppe, a failed boxer; Cosimo, a veteran thief who gives the criminals the idea for the heist, but ironically can't join them since he's in jail; there's Tiberio, raising his baby alone while his wife is in jail. And actor Totò plays a small but delightful role as an ex-criminal who gives lessons on how to crack safes.

The movie is inventive, full of setbacks and unexpected change of plans, and the humor derives not so much from the dialogue but from the ridiculous situations and personal problems the crooks face. And the movie comes together perfectly at the end - it's unexpected but wholly convincing, even inevitable.

Mario Monicelli and his screenwriters deserve a lot of praise for this little pearl of humor.

If you plan doing a heist, then this is not one to see. If you are in for some pointless fun, then it very much is.

[Horst_In_Translation · 6/10 · 12 May 2019]

"I soliti ignoti" or "Big Deal on Madonna Street" is an Italian Italian-language movie from 1958, so this one is already over 60 years old and of course it is a black-and-white movie. From the rating here on imdb, you can see that people really enjoy it to this day and it is among the more defining films from the then booming Italian comedy genre. Normally these films were in a way that they were more about comedy, but also slightly about drama and wanted to be taken seriously at least to some extent. This one here is really making a difference from that perspective. In my opinion, it is 100% comedy. Yes there is a character dying one one occasion, not a minor or major character as he is hit by a train, but this still never feels one bit like a drama. It is the epitome of a crime comedy and we follow a gang of clearly not very capable crooks as they plan on getting near a big safe and emptying it to lead a happy life free of all financial worries for years to come. Needless to say things don't go exactly as planned. But first thing first. This is based on a short story and the director is Mario Monicelli, who is also one of the writers credited here. This big amount of writers is not a surprise by any means, back then especially for Italian (comedy) films, it was the standard. And these 105 minutes were also a big success awards-wise as the movie managed to get in at the Oscars for the foreign language feature category, which sure surprised me a bit because yeah like I said it is much more about the comedy than anything else, but I suppose the Academy ended up liking these pretty unique crooks. I won't go much into detail here about the cast, but the more I see from old Italy, the more I recognize how stunning all the female actors were back in the day, not only 20yo Cardinale in one of her first on-screen performances still with black hair here. Maybe I was born in the wrong year and country. As for the guys: All of them are really experienced too and are doing a fine job here. The biggest name is maybe Gassmann, who also won a prestigious award for his portrayal. I also ended up liking the old fella quite a bit. He did not talk a lot, but seeing him stand there chew on something was already pretty hilarious. Apart from that, it is all about how incompetent these crooks are. You can easily replace the "ignoti" in the title with "idioti" and it would still be very appropriate (not sure if gramatically though). I won't go much into detail about specific scene, but it is very funny to watch them. The film needs a little but to get going, but the longer it runs, the better it gets in my opinion. The scene with the cat and everything revolving around it (also when they found out he got the key, but protected the girl) was laugh-out-loud funny from beginning to end. And there is much more. It is not important what you like the most: be it dialogue-driven comedy, situational comedy or pure slapstick moments. It is all in here, some more some less. I think the moment the audience in my theater loved the most was what happened when the unlucky guy tries robbing a pawn shop. No more details. experience it yourself. Of course, you need a good set of subtitles if you want to watch this movie unless you are fluent in Italian, but that goes without saying. Oh yeah, the soundtrack was really good too, mostly pretty subtle, but emphasizing the material nicely. I was lucky enough to watch this movie as part of a retrospective on Italian cinema on the big screen and I was glad I took the chance. If you get a similar chance, then go for it and don't miss out. It is certainly worth seeing. A good movie overall with an occasionally great scene even. No need to hesitate for me in giving this one a thumbs-up. Positively recommended and the fact that they made several sequels as well as remade this in America only speaks for itself.

What's the Big Deal Here?

[kenjha · 5/10 · 28 December 2010]

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.

Who are these guys anyway?

[stannotuttibene · 30 December 2005]

As is typical in most Italian comedies, Monicelli has taken a cup of post war Italy realism and stirred in a cup of scenes from the human condition along with a dash of physical comedy which makes 'Big Deal On Madonna Street' a bittersweet cake we all can enjoy.

Like DeSica and Visconti, Monicelli uses post war Italy as the atmosphere in which these characters find themselves trying to eke out their lives. The recurring Italian film maker's theme of man against a complicated, bureaucratic life is no more evident than here. Throughout the film, the characters impressively quote Italian law by chapter and verse however this does not help them as they all have spent time in jail. The absurdity of knowledge without benefit of improvement is a another theme used. As Toto waxes eloquently regarding the sundry ways to break into a safe (one which the film goer is led to believe he knows nothing about), these men attempt to gain knowledge which they believe will deliver the big score. However even with knowing the apartment is empty, the type of safe the valuables are in and the way to gain access to the safe, their plan is flawed by their inability to execute what seems to them to be a fool proof blue print for success.

While Monicelli's themes ring as clear as the bell that has Peppe il pantera (Gassman) on the canvas, the characterizations of this band of misfits are classic. A stuttering, would be fighter (Gassman), and an out-of-work photographer who has sold his camera to survive (Mastroianni)lead the crew. The scenes played between Gassman's 'everything's easy' attitude and Mastroianni's inquisitiveness provide the viewer with hilarious cat and mouse verbal trade-offs.

In the end, 'Big Deal On Madonna Street' strikes a chord for viewers because we have all felt, at times, completely helpless by the absurdity of life and our pursuit for 'the prize' that we perceive will deliver us from our situation. However like this crew at the end of the film, we wake up every morning and realize that it's back to work to grind out another day.

Great comedy

[cinephil-5 · 10/10 · 20 September 1999]

This film is a great parody on the influencial film 'RIFIFI'.The cast consists simply of the greatest stars of Italian cinema:Gassman,Mastroianni,Toto,Cardinale. You won't find any film nowadays which comes even close to this one. A must see for everyone who likes to laugh.

Very Italian, Very Bittersweet Humor, Ending Always Makes Me Cry

[poetcomic1 · 10/10 · 25 July 2017]

Lots and lots of little touches, little moments and the comedy is handled as delicately. It takes a 'light touch' to make pastry and Monicelli, the beloved Italian director of comedies has that light touch. The beloved comedian Toto does a delicately nuanced turn as the master safe-cracker. Mastroianni sheds his glamour and is quite believable as a lowlife with a baby and wife in jail. The old man, Carlo Pisacane, reveals a great talent for comedy in this his best role.

The 'loot' at the end of this 'Rififi' style caper is... a pot of leftover pasta and beans. And the crooks ENJOY the pasta. It is really very good, they are hungry from working hard to break through the wrong wall and that moment of gastronomic joy and fellowship, I understood something about life that a dozen serious movies never taught me.

I loved it!

[bensonmum2 · 9/10 · 4 September 2006]

Two weeks ago, I had never even heard of Big Deal on Madonna Street. Now I consider it one of the very best, most enjoyable films I've ever seen. I loved it! The movie is essentially a spoof of the many Italian (and I like to think other European) heist films so common in the 1950s. Director Mario Monicelli and the many credited screenwriters nail the essence (and absurdity) of the genre perfectly. I actually found myself laughing out loud on more than one occasion - and that's quite the accomplishment. While watching Big Deal on Madonna Street, I kept picturing the film Rififi in my mind and replacing the hardened, serious criminals in that movie with this bunch of misfits. It's pure genius. Fans of European heist films owe it to themselves to check out this movie.

Other than the comedy, the acting is the highlight of the movie. Vittorio Gassman, Marcello Mastroianni, Memmo Carotenuto, Renato Salvatori and the rest seem to perform effortlessly. It's a joy to watch such a talented cast. My only complaint with Big Deal on Madonna Street (and the only reason I didn't rate it a 10/10) is the way Claudia Cardinale's character is used. More Cardinale is always a good thing.

Memorable Italian caper comedy

[SimonJack · 8/10 · 8 November 2017]

"Big Deal on Madonna Street" is a very funny Italian caper comedy. It's no doubt more humorous to Italians and those who know the language well. The English subtitles may not be able to convey all of what is meant in the dialog. But the caper itself, the circumstances, and the antics of the gang are hilarious at times.

The details, planning and preparation for the heist actually seem to be thorough. They couldn't foresee the vacant apartment suddenly being occupied. They got the floor plan before that and couldn't have anticipated interior changes. So, the comedy comes mostly just in their actions and the situations. When they drilled into the wall and hit a water pipe, then went through a false wall into the kitchen. These were riotously funny scenes.

An enduring thread during the planning for the heist was that the gang members weren't totally dedicated to the task at hand. Nor was it a do or die heist for them. The sense of the plot was that this is just what they did to try to get ahead. If it worked, fine. If it didn't -- well, maybe next time. That is a definite aspect that is quite different from the more serious gang-centered capers of the U.S. and U.K. Yes, even of those comedies.

In the early part of the film, we got a look at the Italian criminal justice system. One suspects there was more than one jab at it in this film. Most Americans are probably surprised to see how it works in Rome, as I was. It's hilarious just to think that someone who is caught in a crime and who has a record, could pay someone else without a record enough money for that person to take the rap and go to jail instead. The film treated that as an everyday thing in Rome. Of course, not all the police officials are to be taken in so easily.

Perhaps there was a message that crime doesn't pay toward the end when Cosimo (Memmo Carotenuto) is run over by a truck and killed as he flees the police. Before that, it was hilarious to see that he had been reduced to snatching women's purses as he rode by on a bicycle and then sped off. Of course, his first attempt failed miserably.

This is an entertaining and fun Italian comedy that ranks among the best of the caper comedies. It has a fine cast that includes some European stars who would not be unfamiliar to English audiences for very long. Most notable among them are Marcello Mostroianni and Claudia Cardinale.

Decent heist movie but lacks a little something

[blott2319-1 · 7/10 · 30 October 2020]

The key to a good heist movie is in assembling the team and working out the details of a complex plan. The reason Big Deal on Madonna Street is humorous is because it takes some of those important elements and plays around with them in a somewhat farcical fashion.. Most of the team don't look or act like brilliant experts who are going to help out the cause, rather they are somewhat bumbling and have everyday lives with plenty of other things to worry about. This is never more evident than the scene where a handful of guys stand around discussing plans while one of them has his small baby in his arms. The story is so unique from other heist films that the guy who is in charge of leading the plot wasn't even supposed to know about the job, but he cons it out of another guy in prison and basically steals his idea. The entire thing is humorous, but until the finale I felt it lacked something special to make it truly laugh-out-loud funny. That's not to say that I didn't find enjoyment from Big Deal on Madonna Street, it is entertaining and contains enough unexpectedly goofy elements that I could see myself watching it again..

Italian director Mario Monicelli uses comedy to comment on small time criminals.

[FilmCriticLalitRao · 10/10 · 21 October 2014]

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 ?

Fun and bewildering caper performed by the most popular Italian actors

[ma-cortes · 7/10 · 23 December 2023]

This Italian classic ¨Rufufu¨ or ¨I soliti ignoti¨(1958) concerns a team of low rent criminal dunderheads engaging in various scrapes and incidents as they carry out a peculiar robbery. It deals with Peppe: Vittorio Gassman, he's a bungling thief who leads a band of equally inept crooks who plan to make themselves very rich when they attempt to rob a pawnshop on Madonna Street. So the robbery takes place in a building at the corner between Via Delle Tre Cannelle e via Della Cordonata, near Piazza Venezia. But their elaborate plans cause numerous and hilarious disasters. The Story of a Perfect Crime... Perfectly Hilarious! . The Comedy that dreams the impossible scheme!

The offbeat story of two bumbling thieves: Vittorio Gassman and Marcello Mastroianni who round up a gang of equally inept neighbors and go on the wildest crime spree you have ever seen. Spurred on by poverty and frustration, they decide to crack a safe, only to botch the whole caper in a welter of escalating crack-handedness. This agreeable picture concerns a hold-up pulled off by a bunch of unfortunate as well as bungling people but things go awry. Interesting as well as funny screenplay by Agenore Incrocci, Furio Scarpelli, Suso Cecchi D'Amico and director Mario Monicelli himself. There are some nice jokes in the film and the cast, playing eccentric characters, make a cosy fit. It takes a simple concept, a peculiar robbing, being badly schemed, lousily planned and disastrously proceeded by botcher people. A great Comedia all'Italiana by Mario Monicelli; the latter directed this stunning film, a brilliant parody to French production titled ¨Rififi¨(1956) by Jules Dassin . ¨I soliti ignoti(1958)¨ is a comical and sometimes disconcerting account of a bunch of lower class people from the personal, social, cultural, and economic perspective , because needing all of them, urgently, amount of money to resolve their problematic lives. This film packs attractive images, strange situations, swift frames , twists and turns ; but it especially contains catching touches of humor and irony. Nice interpretations from the best Italian actors at the time, Vittorrio Gassman as the former boxer Peppe who organizes the break-in of a pawnshop, Marcello Mastroianni as the unemployed photographer Tiberio, as well as fine support actors: Renato Salvatori, Memmo Carotenuto, Totó, Mario Feliciani and the newcomers beautiful Ragazzas: Carla Gravina, Gina Rovere, and Claudia Cardinale who gets pregnant and married producer Franco Cristaldi who financed this likeable film.

This soft-boiled caper was well directed by Mario Monicelli who gets to capture the same period feeling during the Fifties and lives of the lower classes. Mario Monicelli was born in 1915 Tuscany and died in 2010, Rome; being a good writer/filmmaker and expert on comedies . As he was a writer and director, known for The army Brancaleone (1966), La ragazza Con Pistola (1968) , The marquis of Grillo (1981) and his greatest hit : Rufufú (1958). In fact , his movies Rufufú (1958), The Great War (1959) were Oscar-nominate for "Best Foreign Language Film"; furthermore , The Great War won Golden Lion in Festival of Venice . Followed by ¨Audace colpo dei soliti ignoti¨ or ¨Fiasco in Milan¨ (1959) by Nanny Loy with Vittorio Gassman, Renato Salvatori, Tiberio Murgia. And ¨Rufufú 20 years later¨ (1985) by Amanzio Todini con Vittorio Gassman, Marcello Mastroianni, Tiberio Murgia, Gina Rivera.

Remade in a would-be comic adaptation in 1984 as ¨Crackers¨ by Louis Malle with Donald Sutherland, Jack Warden, Sean Penn and Wallace Shawn. ¨Welcome to Collinwood¨ (2002) is also a remake of 1958 film Big Deal on Madonna Street, being directed by Anthony, Joe Russo, and acted by William H. Macy, Isaiah Washington, Sam Rockwell, Michael Jeter and Luis Guzmán.

A fun romp with a rollicking cast

[Marwan-Bob · 8/10 · 20 March 2019]

One of the Funniest Heist Films i've Seen in a long time Definitely Worth the Time.

Extremely funny when it succeeds

[rdoyle29 · 7/10 · 3 April 2023]

Memmo Carotenuto ends up in jail for attempted car theft where he learns of a plan that should work to rob the safe of a pawn shop. Vittorio Gassman, Marcello Mastroianni, Renato Salvatori, Carlo Pisacane and Tiberio Murgia form an impromptu group attempting to find a scapegoat to take Carotenuto's place in jail. When that plan fails, they decide to do the job themselves. The problem is that they are terrible at it.

I find this film to be consistently amusing while also being rarely laugh-out-loud funny. When it is funny, it's very funny. It's ;ight mocking of the "Asphalt Jungle"/"Rififi" heist movie model virtually invented the modern heist comedy.

Italian comedy legend Toto shows up for a cameo as a safe-cracking expert and Claudia Cardinale has her film debut as Murgia's sister.

Good start but too long

[Angel_Peter · 3/10 · 29 November 2016]

I did really like the start of this movie. It was a bit fun in the start and moved fluently along. Problem for me is it took far too long time to get to what I was waiting for which means the big job. There was far too much personal life for the criminals that was not really interesting enough to carry along as long as it carried on. And then finally the job came up that for me was a disappointing experience.

All in all I think the actors did a good job with what they had to work with but it seemed like the director tried making a deep drama instead of a light comedy as in the start. The characters were simply not interesting or deep enough for that and not enough was really happening.

I felt the start of the movie was very well done.

The middle section getting ready for the job took far too long. Half an hour could easily have been cut of here.

Not enough time was spend on the job and here I had expected more time spent and more crazy situations and found it silly instead of funny what happened.

The end was actually quite fine and all in all a fitting end but at this time I was actually bored and happy the movie was over.

Only see this if you are into slow movies. There are much better and more fun caper movies out there both older and newer.