Symphony for a Massacre

Apr 23, 1963

1h 55m

★ 6.7

Overview

A band of gangsters devise a plan to steal a game contested between two drug gangs of drug traffickers: the five fraudsters will face bigger problems than them.

Genres

Crime

Drama

Production Companies

Compagnie Industrielle et Commerciale Cinématographique

Productions et Éditions Cinématographiques Françaises

Dear Film

Ultra Film

Symphony for a Massacre Trailers

Cast

Clavet

Michel Auclair

Valoti

Claude Dauphin

Paoli

Charles Vanel

Jabeke

Jean Rochefort

Madeleine Clavet

Michèle Mercier

Moreau

José Giovanni

Hélène Valoti

Daniela Rocca

Cerutti (uncredited)

Marcello Pagliero

(uncredited)

Claude Cerval

Games room employee (uncredited)

Jean Degrave

(uncredited)

Maurice Garrel

American customer (uncredited)

Billy Kearns

When his young son is killed in a hit and run accident, Charles Thenier resolves to hunt down and murder the killer. By chance, Thenier makes the acquaintance of an actress, Helène Lanson, who was in the car at the time of the accident. He then meets Helène’s brother-in-law, Paul Decourt, a truly horrible individual.

7.8

Le Samouraï

Oct 25, 1967

After carrying out a flawlessly planned hit, Jef Costello, a contract killer with samurai instincts, finds himself caught between a persistent police investigator and a ruthless employer, and not even his armor of fedora and trench coat can protect him.

7.2

Shoot the Piano Player

Nov 25, 1960

Charlie is a former classical pianist who has changed his name and now plays jazz in a grimy Paris bar. When Charlie's brothers, Richard and Chico, surface and ask for Charlie's help while on the run from gangsters they have scammed, he aids their escape. Soon Charlie and Lena, a waitress at the same bar, face trouble when the gangsters arrive, looking for his brothers.

6.6

Mississippi Mermaid

Jun 18, 1969

A tobacco planter on Réunion island in the Indian Ocean becomes engaged through correspondence to a French woman he does not know. The woman that arrives does not look like the picture he received, but he marries her anyway.

7.1

The Butcher

Feb 27, 1970

An unlikely friendship between a dour, working class butcher and a repressed schoolteacher coincides with a grisly series of Ripper-type murders in a provincial French town.

7.1

The Bride Wore Black

Mar 22, 1968

Julie Kohler is prevented from suicide by her mother. She leaves the town. She will track down, charm and kill five men who do not know her. What is her goal? What is her purpose?

6.9

Alphaville

May 5, 1965

Lemmy Caution is on a mission to eliminate Professor Von Braun, the creator of a malevolent computer that rules the city of Alphaville. Befriended by the scientist’s daughter Natasha, Lemmy must unravel the mysteries of the strictly logical Alpha 60 and teach Natasha the meaning of the word “love.”

7.6

Purple Noon

Mar 10, 1960

Tom Ripley is a talented mimic, moocher, forger and all-around criminal improviser; but there's more to Tom Ripley than even he can guess.

7.6

Elevator to the Gallows

Jan 29, 1958

A self-assured businessman murders his employer, the husband of his mistress, which unintentionally provokes an ill-fated chain of events.

7.1

Coup de Torchon

Nov 4, 1981

A pathetic police chief, humiliated by everyone around him, suddenly wants a clean slate in life, and resorts to drastic means to achieve it.

7.0

The Big Risk

Mar 23, 1960

Two men pull off a daring daylight payroll heist in Milan, making a fast getaway. One is returning to France after years in hiding, needing money to start fresh with his family.

7.0

The Burglars

Oct 27, 1971

In Athens a collection of emeralds is successfully stolen by a team of robbers, led by safe-cracker Azad. Things go smoothly until they miss the ship by which they planned their escape; a police chief pursues Azad while he waits for the next ship to set off.

7.4

Le Doulos

Dec 13, 1962

Enigmatic gangster Silien may or may not be responsible for informing on Faugel, who was just released from prison and is already involved in what should be a simple heist. By the end of this brutal, twisting, and multilayered policier, who will be left to trust?

7.6

Le Deuxième Souffle

Nov 1, 1966

A gangster escapes jail and quickly makes plans to continue his criminal ways elsewhere, but a determined inspector is closing in.

7.2

Pépé le Moko

Jan 28, 1937

Pépé le Moko, one of France's most wanted criminals, hides out in the Casbah section of Algiers. He knows police will be waiting for him if he tries to leave the city. When Pépé meets Gaby, a gorgeous woman from Paris who is lost in the Casbah, he falls for her.

7.6

Daybreak

Jun 9, 1939

After committing a murder, a man locks himself in his apartment and recollects the events that led him to the killing.

6.3

Two Men in Manhattan

Oct 16, 1959

Two French journalists become embroiled in a criminal plot in New York City involving a disappeared United Nations diplomat.

7.2

Touchez Pas au Grisbi

Mar 17, 1954

Gentleman gangster Max and his partner, Riton, pull off their last, most successful heist and find themselves comfortable enough to retire in the style they enjoy. However, Max confides the details of the theft to his younger mistress, Josey -- who has secretly taken up with ambitious young rival gangster Angelo. Angelo then has Riton kidnapped and demands the stash of gold as ransom, which threatens Max's dreams of the perfect retirement.

7.5

Jenny Lamour

Oct 4, 1947

Paris, France, December 1946. Jenny Lamour, an ambitious cabaret singer, and Maurice, her extremely jealous pianist husband, become involved in the thorough investigation of the murder of a shady businessman, led by Antoine, a peculiar and methodical police inspector.