Classic European heist movie

This is a film that proves just how cool things were in the 1960s in Europe, particularly France and Italy. The ultra-cool Alain Delon (the French Steve McQueen) is truly superb as the loner hood, and with an excellent cast (including the legend Jean Gabin), thrilling story, stylish direction and yet another masterful score by Ennio Morricone, THE SICILIAN CLAN is a must-see for lovers of heist thrillers.

viewer's comments:

- Classic European heist movie

This is a film that proves just how cool things were in the 1960s in Europe, particularly France and Italy. The ultra-cool Alain Delon (the French Steve McQueen) is truly superb as the loner hood, and with an excellent cast (including the legend Jean Gabin), thrilling story, stylish direction and yet another masterful score by Ennio Morricone, THE SICILIAN CLAN is a must-see for lovers of heist thrillers.

- Brilliant French gangster drama

"Clan of the Sicilians" is a real French gangster movie classic from 1969 with three of the most important male actors of that time and genre - Lino Ventura as hard-boiled Parisian cop, Jean Gabin as a dominating Sicilian gangster clan "padre" and young Alain Delon as a hot-blooded, seducing robber. The whole movie is dominated by the great acting of these three characters, but with enough space left for a dark film noire atmosphere and a thrilling "big coup" plot. Henri Verneuil's direction is one of his best, and Ennio Morricone's seducing Mediterranean score is simply stunning, catchy and one of his best works of the sixties. Even after more than 30 years, this French crime classic is still fascinating, thrilling and a real pleasure to watch.


- A Near Classic, Top Notch Crime Drama

It might sound cliché, but I'm just going to use it and say it: "They just don't like that anymore". The Sicilian Clan truly deserves it and every second of the film is tightly acted and directed. We also have an absolutely magnificent soundtrack here courtesy of the Italian master composer Ennio Morricone which perfectly matches the mood and look of the film. Alain Delon, in one of his best performances, plays a master thief who gets hired by Jean Gabin for the occasion of pulling off a 50 million dollar jewel robbery.

The jewelry is being shipped to a museum in New York by a passenger airplane and The Sicilian Clan want them all. The best way: hijack the plane! There is also a very good subplot involving Delon and the wife of the one of the Clan boys that runs along the way which is ultimately responsible for the film's very very satisfying finale. Beautifully shot in Panavision, the imagery is also great with lots of on location photography of the late 60's Paris. Sadly, this movie is not currently available on home video in North America. It was theatrically released in North America by the 20th Century Fox and it grossed over $1 million dollars at the time which quite respectable.

- Life Imitates Art, Seeing "The Sicilian Clan" In Queens

I first saw "The Sicilian Clan" at the Mayfair theater in Fresh Meadows, in 1970. A Woody Allen movie was the main feature then, but I went to see "The Sicilian Clan," a great crime movie then and now.

In the glossy world of "The Sicilian Clan," the criminals are professionals who make money the old-fashioned way - they plan robberies. The picture starts with members of the Manalese family, arranging for the escape from custody of career criminal Roger Sartet (Alain Delon). Sartet is in big trouble, having killed two policeman during his capture, according to a comment later made by Lino Ventura's character, a tough cop. The escape from the police van is suspenseful, as is most of this movie. "The Sicilian Clan's" plot has the thieves take a hijacked jet to New York. Instead of landing at an airport in Queens, though, the jet lands on an unfinished highway. To show the attention to detail director Henri Verneuil took, as the jet rolls over a bridge, you briefly see dirt from the bridge supports fall down, from the weight of the landing jet.

About eight years after I saw this movie, Queens mobsters using inside information robbed the high security vault of Lufthansa airlines at JFK Airport. That robbery and its aftermath are part of the plot of "Goodfellas." In "The Sicilian Clan" Sartet's character has inside information on the burglar alarm installation at the Villa Borghese, where a big jewelry exhibit is taking place. He uses this information to get Jean Gabin's character, the head of the family, involved in the robbery. Thinking it over, Queens in the 1970s was the most appropriate place to see a crime movie like "The Sicilian Clan." A French crime movie that in part imitated what was happening in Queens.


cast: Jean Gabin .... Vittorio Manalese
Alain Delon .... Roger Sartet
Lino Ventura .... Inspector Le Goff
Irina Demick .... Jeanne Manalese
Amedeo Nazzari .... Tony Nicosia
Philippe Baronnet .... Luigi
Karen Blanguernon .... Theresa
Yves Brainville
Gérard Buhr
Elisa Cegani .... Maria Manalese
Raoul Delfosse
Jacques Duby .... Rovel.


Country: France
Language: dubbed to English
Colour (Eastmancolor)
Runtime: 113 minutes


Also known as Clan des Siciliens, Le (1969)