Le Cercle Rouge

Corey has just finished a prison sentence and wants nothing more than to stay out. He is drawn back into crime almost immediately, though, and robs a former associate on the night of his release. In the course of his escape he crosses paths with Vogel, a criminal who has got away from the police officer escorting him. The two men agree to work together on a jewel robbery, and they bring in Jansen, a one-time police marksman whose drinking has left him adrift, to cover them with a rifle. Meanwhile Commissioner Mattei, who lost his prisoner, pursues Vogel while investigating the crime being planned behind his back.

Jean-Pierre Melville wrote and directed the film, which came out in 1970 and followed Army of Shadows in his filmography; he would go on to make Un Flic. Alain Delon plays Corey, Gian Maria Volonté plays Vogel, Yves Montand plays Jansen, and Bourvil, better known for comedy, appears as Mattei. Robert Dorfmann produced the Italian-French co-production.

The film runs 140 minutes and has held a strong reputation over the decades. On IMDb it scores 7.9 from around 32,000 votes, and on TMDB it has 7.6 from a much smaller sample of about 750. The critics' rating stands higher still, 8.6 from 67 reviews, so the professional response recorded here is notably warmer than the general audience's, though both are positive.