The Sicilian Clan

Three of the great icons of French crime cinema team up for this 1969 international heist thriller. Jean Gabin is Vittorio Manalese, the head of the Sicilian clan in Paris. Alain Delon costars as reckless, amoral French criminal/killer Roger, who is sprung from police custody by Vittorio's clan. And Lino Ventura plays the police inspector on the hunt to recapture Roger. The Manalese crime family doesn't like killing and Vittorio doesn't trust Roger, a loner who has murdered more than one cop during his robberies, but he agrees to partner with Roger on a big jewel heist. After scoping out the security system at the Rome jewel exhibit, a new plan is hatched: hijacking the flight delivering the jewels to New York City. It's a clever caper thriller and filmmaker Henri Verneuil directs the two big set pieces—the prison transport escape and the intricate airliner heist—without exposition and with minimal dialogue. Added to the proceedings are tensions between the clannish Manalese family and the reckless Roger, which tip into betrayal when he seduces the French wife of a Manalese son. A solid crime thriller with continental style, international star power, and a twist of vengeance that leaves no one untouched, The Sicilian Clan was shot in two versions, one in English and a longer one in French and Italian that uses the languages for dramatic effect: the Manalese family speaks French in society but Italian at home, which distances them from both Roger and Vittorio's French daughter-in-law. Kino presents new HD restorations of both versions, along with extras including audio commentary by film historians Howard S. Berger and Nathaniel Thompson, behind-the-scenes featurettes, and an image gallery. Recommended. (S. Axmaker)