Big Deal on Madonna Street

1958

1 hr. 31 min.

Comedy

List

89%

9 Reviews

Tomatometer

90%

2,500+ Ratings

Audience Score

Best friends Peppe (Vittorio Gassman) and Mario (Marcello Mastroianni) are thieves, but they're not very good at it. Still, Peppe thinks that he's finally devised a master heist that will make them rich. With the help of some fellow criminals, he plans to dig a tunnel from a rented apartment to the pawnshop next door, where they can rob the safe. But his plan is far from foolproof, and the fact that no one in the group has any experience digging tunnels proves to be the least of their problems.

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chris k

A terrific Italian classic, a comedy worth watching!

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

03/31/23

Full Review

Audience Member

The key to a good heist movie is in assembling the team and working out the details of a complex plan. The reason Big Deal on Madonna Street is humorous is because it takes some of those important elements and plays around with them in a somewhat farcical fashion.. Most of the team don’t look or act like brilliant experts who are going to help out the cause, rather they are somewhat bumbling and have everyday lives with plenty of other things to worry about. This is never more evident than the scene where a handful of guys stand around discussing plans while one of them has his small baby in his arms. The story is so unique from other heist films that the guy who is in charge of leading the plot wasn’t even supposed to know about the job, but he cons it out of another guy in prison and basically steals his idea. The entire thing is humorous, but until the finale I felt it lacked something special to make it truly laugh-out-loud funny. That’s not to say that I didn’t find enjoyment from Big Deal on Madonna Street, it is entertaining and contains enough unexpectedly goofy elements that I could see myself watching it again..

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

10/30/20

Full Review

Audience Member

Although not so consistently funny throughout (in fact, there are quite a few moments that fall short on the humor scale), this charming yet overrated Italian comedy compensates for that with an excellent cast (especially Totò) and some effective scenes that are truly hilarious.

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

02/14/23

Full Review

Audience Member

ranks with lavender hill mob for heist movies

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

02/13/23

Full Review

Audience Member

Fairly jocular throughout, with a few mild surprises, this Italian comedy almost makes you laugh quite often, but never really does. It's like an Italian equivalent of an Ealing comedy from the same era. It's perfectly watchable, Toto' is funnier than I've usually found him and it's all quite amusing. 7.25/10

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

01/25/23

Full Review

Audience Member

With an all star cast and essentially funny, this comedy somewhere in between neo realism and Italian farce is not to be missed.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

01/24/23

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Mario Monicelli

Director

Vittorio Gassman

Peppe il pantera

Marcello Mastroianni

Tiberio

Totò

Dante Cruciani

Renato Salvatori

Mario Angeletti

Rossana Rory

Norma

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Tim Brayton

Antagony & Ecstasy

One of the cases where the first of its kind got everything just about perfect, right out of the gate.

Rated: 9/10

Jul 4, 2015

Full Review

Emanuel Levy

EmanuelLevy.Com

Monicelli's seminal Italian comedy, a spoof of heist movies with great performances by Gassman, Mastroianni, Toto, and Cardinale, had major impact on many American satires, past and present.

Rated: A-

Jan 3, 2009

Full Review

Michael Dequina

TheMovieReport.com

The only really outstanding element is Piero Umiliani's cool jazz score.

Dec 30, 2008

Full Review

Dennis Schwartz

Dennis Schwartz Movie Reviews

A devilish black comedy about an inept gang of thieves in Rome that turned out to be a big influence in spoof heist films.

Rated: B

Sep 11, 2008

Full Review

Jules Brenner

Cinema Signals

Rated: 5/5

Jul 23, 2003

Full Review

David Nusair

Reel Film Reviews

...because the characters are so likable and their plan for breaking into the safe is genuinely interesting, it's easy enough to overlook the few dull spots.

Rated: 3/4

Apr 13, 2003

Full Review

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Synopsis

Best friends Peppe (Vittorio Gassman) and Mario (Marcello Mastroianni) are thieves, but they're not very good at it. Still, Peppe thinks that he's finally devised a master heist that will make them rich. With the help of some fellow criminals, he plans to dig a tunnel from a rented apartment to the pawnshop next door, where they can rob the safe. But his plan is far from foolproof, and the fact that no one in the group has any experience digging tunnels proves to be the least of their problems.

Director: Mario Monicelli
Screenwriter: Agenore Incrocci, Suso Cecchi d'Amico, Mario Monicelli
Production Co: Cinecittà, Vides Cinematografica, Lux Film
Genre: Comedy
Original Language: Italian
Release Date (Streaming): Nov 24, 2019