BOINNNNGGG!..........GOES "THE SICILIAN CLAN"......

The Sicilian Clan (1969)   I simply couldn't resist using the signature sound effect from Ennio Morricone's brilliant score to title this post. ..........

                No doubts, no question, BQ LOVES this movie.......

                Euro-Crime thrillers don't come better crafted and slicker than this one. Its 2 hour pace is measured but you won't find a single wasted minute in it.......all the way through, it's riveting....

                 First and foremost.......that powerhouse International triumvirate of Lino Ventura, Jean Gabin and Alain Delon.  To use an imaginary comparison, think of an American crime film that would team up Spencer Tracy, John Wayne and Steve McQueen.......

                 From the start, you're hooked by the opening set piece.......the elaborate escape from police custody of  cold-hearted cop-killer Sartet (Delon), his breakout cleverly engineered by Paris-based Sicilian crime boss Vittorio Manalese (Gabin).

                  Sartet's a loose cannon pain in the ass to the extended Manalese clan, especially since he's being  hunted down by relentless police chief Le Goff (Ventura). But the suave lethal crook has key intel for a potential huge jewel heist, the main reason the family broke him out.

                   While Gabin figures out an outrageous way to grab the jewels, the ever horny Delon dallies with a hot-to-trot Manalese daughter-in-law (Irina Demick).......which ultimately leads to everybody's undoing...….

                   And by the way, we have the va-va-voom Demick to thank for 20th Century Fox footing the bill for the film......since she was Fox  mogul Darryl F.Zanuck's Girlfriend-Of-The-Year.....(which is why you see her pop up in "The Longest Day" and "Those Magnificent Men In Their Flying Machines".......to be kind, Demick's better than some other Zanuck Bimbos-Du-Jour that he jammed into Fox movies.

                    For anyone who hasn't seen the film, I don't want to spoil a single detail of the spectacularly crazy jewel heist........for apparent reasons, you'll know at once that in no way on earth could the gang  ever pull this off today, but don't let that spoil the fun of it.

                   And the many suspenseful Hitchcock-ian touches thrown in here make for extra-delicious treats in an already entertaining movie......

                   So BQ says treat yourself and track down this clan......they're a 5 star (*****) FIND OF FINDS.