The Sicilian Clan

The Sicilian Clan (1969)

Le Clan des Siciliens

Behind every gun is "The Sicilian Clan!"

An ambitious mobster plans an elaborate diamond heist while seducing the daughter-in-law of a ruthless mob patriarch as a determined police commissioner closes in on all of them.

Date of release
1969-12-05
TMDB
7.6 / 10 (392)
Runtime
2h 1m
Genres
Crime, Drama
Director
Henri Verneuil

Casting

Interesting facts

  • Filmed in: quai de Jemmapes, passage Delanos, rue d'Alsace, Galleria Borghese, LaGuardia Airport, Paris–Le Bourget Airport and 3 more

The Sicilian Clan is a 1969 French-Italian gangster film based on the novel by Auguste Le Breton. It was directed by Henri Verneuil and stars Jean Gabin, Lino Ventura and Alain Delon, whose casting has been credited with the film's box office success in France. Ennio Morricone composed the score for the film.

Production

The Sicilian Clan was based on the second novel in a series by Auguste Le Breton. The first, which also featured the characters of Sartet and Le Goff, had been filmed by Bernard Borderie as Brigade antigangs in 1966.

The film rights to The Sicilian Clan were bought by Henri Verneuil, who teamed with Jacques-Eric Strauss and signed a deal with 20th Century Fox. Verneuil wrote a screenplay with Pierre Pelegri and then José Giovanni. The two lead roles were written with Jean Gabin and Alain Delon in mind, as Verneuil had worked with both men before.

Irina Demick was unhappy with her character in the film compared to the novel, in which she was more active, and wanted her to take part in the hijacking. Verneuil felt this would not be believable, but Demick had considerable influence, as she was the mistress of the head of Fox, Darryl F. Zanuck, so Verneuil rewrote the sequence.

Second unit filming started in New York in March 1969. The main unit went into production on March 24 at Franstudio's Saint-Maurice Studios. The film was shot in two versions--one with the actors speaking French, and another with the actors speaking English.

Actor Roger Lumont, who played the hotel manager Albert and was bilingual, later stated in a filmed interview that his scene with Lino Ventura was shot in English. Lumont recalled being surprised by Ventura's ability to handle the scene in English, although Ventura was not generally regarded as fluent in the language.

Read on Wikipedia · Text from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0. Data from Wikidata.

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