Le Doulos
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| Directed by | Jean-Pierre Melville |
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| Written by | Jean-Pierre Melville |
| Based on | A novel by Pierre V. Lesou |
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| Music by | Paul Misraki |
| Cinematography | Nicolas Hayer |
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108 minutes |
| Country | France |
| Box office | 1,475,391 admissions |
Le Doulos (French pronunciation: [lə dulos]) is a 1963 French crime film written and directed by Jean-Pierre Melville, adapted from the novel of the same name by Pierre Lesou. It was released theatrically as The Finger Man in the English-speaking world, but all video and DVD releases have used the French title. Intertitles at the beginning of the film explain that its title refers both to a kind of hat and to the slang term for a police informant.
Maurice Faugel, just released from prison after serving a six-year sentence, meets a friend, Gilbert, who is appraising the value of jewels from a recent heist. Maurice is planning a robbery the next day with two accomplices, Silien and Rémy. Maurice kills Gilbert with Gilbert's own gun and steals the jewels as well as a large sum of money. It is later revealed that Gilbert killed Maurice's girlfriend Arlette to keep her from informing the police when Maurice was sent to prison six years prior. Maurice leaves the house just as Nuttheccio and Armand, prominent gangsters, arrive to collect the loot. Maurice buries the jewels, money, and gun under a lamppost.
Maurice spends the evening at his girlfriend Thérèse's apartment. Silien arrives the next day with Maurice's friend Jean to deliver equipment for the robbery that evening. When Silien leaves, he uses a payphone to call Inspector Salignari.
That evening, Maurice and Rémy leave to rob a home in affluent Neuilly. Meanwhile, Silien comes to Thérèse's apartment, then beats her and ties her to a wall radiator, demanding to know the address of the robbery. The police arrive at the robbery. Inspector Salignari corners Maurice and Rémy, fatally shooting Rémy. Maurice and Salignari shoot at one another; Maurice is hit in the shoulder, and Salignari is killed. Maurice leaves the gun in Rémy's hand and continues to run away. He passes out just before a car pulls up to the curb.
Maurice wakes up in Jean's apartment, but neither Maurice nor Jean's wife Anita know who brought him there. Maurice resolves to find Silien, who he believes informed the police. He leaves Anita with a diagram showing where he buried the jewels, money, and gun, telling her to give it to Jean if something happens to him.
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