Big Deal on Madonna Street (1958)

Sorry, this movie sucks

Slow pace in the most part of the movie.

I like movies that are aware of what they are selling... without [any] greater aspirations than to make people laugh and that's it.

I think this is a new genre that they're all sort of working their way through it and haven't got all the kinks worked out yet but it's a genre that works for me.

This marvelous Italian comedy is simply outrage funny...a bunch of losers try make a perfect plan to steal a box,but it's spend a lot of time to prepare each part of the entire plan,during this time every weird situation came along.... Gassman ,Mastroianni,Salvatore,Carotenuto,Pisacane,Murgia and Totó all them had a stunning performance without forget Claudia Cardinale's debut...each one them are colorful and has a own story....Mario Monicelli made a fantastic movie!!! Resume: First watch: 2017 / How many: 1 / Source: DVD / Rating: 9

To the Ghost of Mario Monicelli, Come sta andando? I really enjoyed Big Deal in Madonna Street. So many filmmakers have stolen your ethos right from Woody Allen to George Clooney and the Coens to some really awful Indian filmmakers. You had me right from the title sequence with the too thieves walking in the shadows towards the car. There were some really interesting camera angles and directorial flourishes (like the way the camera moved when the kids are playing the stick game) throughout the whole film. It also had an interesting structure with you introducing the two apparent protagonists at the beginning but soon both of them slip into the background. Your film was like a slightly slap-sticky and hilarious rendering of Italian neo-realism. The bumbling and imbecilic working class characters not only evoked sympathy and adoration, but also a sense of desolation. This was foregrounded in the final scene when the old man is left all alone in the street after Vittorio Gasman's character is pulled in (seemingly not by accident?) with the other workers.Best Regards, Pimpin. (9/10)

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

I am avoiding any sophisticated film analysis and simply stating this film is very funny. I admit I am afictionado of Italian films so perhaps I am overly generous in my appraisal. The photography evokes a time when Italy was just beginning to rise from the chaos of WWII and it offers a wonderful emotional change from the neo-realism of many of the era's classic films. It's the best slapstick, tried and true but presented with style and timing before the shticks became clichés......when Cosimo attempts to rob a jewelry pawn shop and points his gun at the owner asking him if he knows what he has in his hand, the proprietor insouciantly takes the gun from his hand and says "A Beretta in poor condition" and offers him 1000 Lire for it. There are many, many more examples but for me to recount them would detract from your enjoyment. To see Marcello and Claudia when they were younger than my children and before they were stars is good fun. Apropos of James Bond, just saw the new Casino Royale, in BDOMS when Cosimo is outside the jewelry pawn shop, 52 minutes+ into the DVD, the background music is the repeated opening bars of "Diamonds Are Forever" almost twenty years before Barry wrote the song for the James Bond flick.