5/5 Nostalgic, taut French crime thriller w/ the incomparable Gabin
  by Stanley K. Wong (sunnyvale, ca)
I just wanted to post this review to give it the 5 stars that it deserves.
I won't be as detailed in my review but the prior reviews have said what I have been thinking about this movie for the past 12 months.
I rewatched this wonderful movie last night. I must say...Jean Gabin is such an incredible actor. So much like our Spencer Tracy except he can say so much with just a glance and a mere change in his facial expression can say it all. I have seen him in some incredible Jean Renoirs and other movies of his from the 1930's...it is so neat to constrast the world weary 1954 Gabin character with his lively traveler from 20 years earlier.

This film is frank, brutally honest about aging criminals who operated with a touch of class. They resorted to primitive violence when they needed to.

I love contrasting this free film w/ the tighter censorship of American film noirs. It is darker and it just seems more realistic than the typical Hollywood film noir treatment. The skating around the expression of female nudity (granted they were pictures on the wall of the nightclub) and seduction scenes were fascinating to contrast too.

The female actresses were fun to watch and linger over. Some were absolutely beautiful and support the claim of France having some incredible women.

I love how all the characters were developed slowly and it closes with a finger gripping climax. I was NEVER bored from the first minute on.

I cannot recommend this movie any more than I am now. If you are a fan of Jean Gabin, French movies pre-new Wave, or if you don't mind subtitles for your crime dramas...enjoy this tightly scripted 94 minute film. You will not be disappointed and this will stay with you for a long, long time!

5/5 The Ultimate French Gangster Movie
  by Charles L. Zigman (Los Angeles, California United States)
Jean Gabin has always been my favorite actor (he should be; I wrote a book about him -- WORLD'S COOLEST MOVIE STAR), and this is really the consummate 'later period' Gabin movie.

Most Americans know Jean Gabin only from a handful of films which he made in the '30s, his "matinee idol" period when he played movie history's consummate tragic drifter. But in the 1950s, '60s, and '70s, he played the ultimate 'classy' gentleman-gangster -- a definite progenitor of Vito Corleone -- and director Jacques Becker's "Touchez pas au grisbi" ("Hands of the Loot") knocks it out of the park. If you like French noir movies like "Rififi" and "Bob Le Flambeur," this picture is just as wonderful.

Aside from the requisite action sequences, director Jacques Becker (Renoir's A.D. on "Les Bas-fonds," "La Grande illusion," and "La Bete humaine") wisely alternates the action with some finely nuanced scenes between the characters, scenes which really make them genuine and 'real' to the viewer.

I can't recommend Touches pas au grisbi" highly enough. It should be part of every serious cineaste's DVD collection.

5/5 Act Your Age
  by EddieLove (NYC, USA)
Jean Gabin is sensational as a dapper old Parisian gangster who knows when his bedtime is. Not so his lovelorn buddy who lets slip to his younger showgirlfriend Jeanne Moreau about their last haul. When dope-dealing lug Lino Ventura catches wind and plots to rip them off, it's time for Gabin to start slapping people.

Great scenes of Paris at night coupled with a terrific score make this a thrilling entertainment. And the picture looks stunning on this DVD.

It's amazing to think that Lino had never acted before this -- he's effortlessly menacing here. But this is Gabin's show. He's tough but oddly lovable too. Never has the criminal urge to kick back and enjoy the good life seemed less cliche and more poignant.

5/5 A Giant of French Cinema.
  by A. Alexander (Central London)
There are not many words by which to describe the awesome 'combination' of the Sir Laurence Olivier/Marlon Brando 'version' of One of the most well-accomplished French Actors, ever to 'explode' upon the Silver Screen, the magnificent, Jean Gabin. This motion picture "Touchez Pas au Grisbi", is, about loyalty, the macho camaraderie binding the 'participants', as well as the unwritten law of never 'grassing up' your 'mates.' The word "loyalty" which is the clear message this film conveys, suggests, that, any man who is disloyal, lacks in character, and, basic moral fibre. Should this be the case, then, 'he'; is 'no good' to his friends, or to; anybody else.

5/5 Money makes the (under)world go round...
  by Le Bellifontain (Toronto, ON. CDN)
A classic! Don't miss it!
Un classique à ne pas manquer.