Big Deal on Madonna Street (1960)

"The funniest caper comedy ever made!  USA Today

Editor's Note A classic account of the misadventures of a group of amateurish crooks. The hapless and bungling group of burglars try to break into a store from an apartment next door -- only to find they've drilled through a wall to another room in the same apartment. Each thief comes to the job with a distraction, and the gang's technical expert, who proffers an elaborate burglary lecture, retires to the bathroom when it comes time to do the actual work. After this arduous all-night heist attempt, dawn breaks and they all decide to go home.

	Claudia Cardinale
	Marcello Mastroianni
	Vittorio Gassman
	Rossana Rory
	Mario Monicelli - Director
	Gianni Di Venanzo - Director of Photography
	Piero Umiliani - Musical Score
	Franco Cristaldi - Producer
	Suso Cecchi d'Amico - Writer
	Mario Monicelli - Writer

A hapless and bungling group of burglars try to break into a store from an apartment next door -- only to find they've drilled through a wall to another room in the same apartment. Each thief comes to the job with a distraction, and the gang's technical expert, who proffers an elaborate burglary lecture, retires to the bathroom when it comes time to do the actual work. After this arduous all-night heist attempt, dawn breaks and they all decide to go home. USA Today
"...Widely regarded as the funniest caper movie ever..." 06/22/2001 p.7E

Premiere
"A fortuitous, one-time-only coupling of slapstick and the neorealist ethos." 08/01/2006 p.66

Wall Street Journal
"This leisurely, sweet-spirited Italian comedy directed by Mario Monicelli was conceived as a spoof of the now-classic RIFIFI..." 11/05/2010

Chicago Reader 10 of 10
One of the funniest Italian comedies ever made... Monicelli's sense of character is priceless, and his fabulous cast--including Marcello Mastroianni, Vittorio Gassman, Claudia Cardinale and Renago Salvatori--make the most of it! - Jonathan Rosenbaum