The Thief of Paris

"Le Voleur" redirects here. For the French literary magazine, see Le Voleur (magazine).

1967 French film

The Thief of Paris

American poster for The Thief of Paris

Directed by| Louis Malle
Written by| Jean-Claude Carrière
Louis Malle
Produced by| Georges Laurent
J.F. Malle
Alain Quefféléan
Starring| Jean-Paul Belmondo
Geneviève Bujold
Cinematography| Henri Lanoë
Edited by| Jacques Saulnier
Music by| Henri Lanoë

Production
companies

Nouvelles Éditions de Films
Les Productions Artistes Associés
Compagnia Cinematografica Champion

Distributed by| Les Artistes Associés

Release date

* 22 February 1967 (1967-02-22)

Running time

| 121 minutes
Country| France
Language| French
Box office| $9.2 million[1]
1,225,555 admissions (France)[2]

The Thief of Paris (Le voleur) is a 1967 French crime film directed by Louis Malle and starring Jean-Paul Belmondo as a professional thief (Georges Randal) at the turn of the century in Paris. The film is based on a book of the same title by Georges Darien.

The story centers on his burglaries as well as his ongoing relationship with his cousin Charlotte (Geneviève Bujold). It also features other well-known French actors including Marie Dubois, Charles Denner and Bernadette Lafont. The film had 1,225,555 admissions in France.[3] It was entered into the 5th Moscow International Film Festival.

## Plot[edit]

In the opening scene, Georges Randal, the thief of the title, breaks into a big house and begins to steal the valuable objects on display. A series of flashbacks (with occasional reversions to the present) then narrates the story of Randal's life. An orphan, he is raised by his uncle along with his cousin Charlotte, who grows into an attractive young woman with whom he falls in love. When Georges reaches twenty-one and asks for the money his parents left him, he finds that his unscrupulous uncle has stolen it all. He is rejected as a suitor for Charlotte because he is poor. She is then betrothed by her social-climbing father to a dim-witted aristocrat. Georges steals the fiance's family jewels and from then on, motivated by a sense of justice and desire for revenge, follows a successful career as a gentleman thief, targeting the haute bourgeoisie. At the end of the film, he has achieved all his aims: he is married to Charlotte, is living in his uncle's house, and has recovered the money his parents left him, as well as having accumulated a fortune through his crimes. Charlotte says to him 'You don't need to steal any more' but he replies 'You don't understand!' It is apparent that he has a compulsion to go on, knowing that he will eventually be caught. The final scene shows him boarding the train back to Paris with the haul from his latest robbery.

## Cast[edit]

* Jean-Paul Belmondo as Georges Randal
* Geneviève Bujold as Charlotte Randal
* Christian Lude as Urbain Randal, uncle of Georges and father of Charlotte
* Marie Dubois as Geneviève Delpiels
* Julien Guiomar as L'abbé Félix la Margelle
* Paul Le Person as Roger Voisin called Roger-La-Honte
* Marlène Jobert as Broussaille, sister of Roger-La-Honte
* Françoise Fabian as Ida
* Bernadette Lafont as Marguerite
* Martine Sarcey as Renée Mouratet
* Jacques Debary as Courbassol
* Charles Denner as Cannonier

## References[edit]

1. ^ JP. "Le Voleur (1967)- JPBox-Office". www.jpbox-office.com.
2. ^ Box office information for film at Box office story
3. ^ JP. "Le Voleur (1967)- JPBox-Office". www.jpbox-office.com.

## Further reading[edit]

* Malle on Malle, edited by Philip French, Faber and Faber, 1993.

## External links[edit]

* The Thief of Paris at IMDb
* The Thief of Paris at Le Film Guide
* The Thief of Paris at Rotten Tomatoes

* v
* t
* e

Films directed by Louis Malle

Feature films|

* Elevator to the Gallows (1958)
* The Lovers (1958)
* Zazie dans le Métro (1960)
* A Very Private Affair (1962)
* The Fire Within (1963)
* Viva Maria! (1965)
* The Thief of Paris (1967)
* Murmur of the Heart (1971)
* Lacombe, Lucien (1974)
* Black Moon (1975)
* Pretty Baby (1978)
* Atlantic City (1980)
* My Dinner with Andre (1981)
* Crackers (1984)
* Alamo Bay (1985)
* Au revoir les enfants (1987)
* May Fools (1990)
* Damage (1992)
* Vanya on 42nd Street (1994)

Short films|

* Crazeologie
* Station 307
* Spirits of the Dead (segment "William Wilson")

Documentaries|

* The Silent World
* Vive le Tour
* Calcutta
* Humain, trop humain
* Place de la République
* Close Up

Television|

* Bons baisers de Bangkok
* Phantom India
* Dominique Sanda ou Le rêve éveillé
* God's Country
* And the Pursuit of Happiness

* v
* t
* e

Jean-Claude Carrière

Films written|

* The Suitor (1962)
* Heureux Anniversaire (1962)
* Diary of a Chambermaid (1964)
* Yo Yo (1965)
* Viva Maria! (1965)
* The Diabolical Dr. Z (1965)
* As Long as You've Got Your Health (1966)
* Hotel Paradiso (1966)
* The Thief of Paris (1967)
* Belle de Jour (1967)
* Pour un amour lointain (1968)
* The Great Love (1969)
* The Milky Way (1969)
* La Piscine (1969)
* Borsalino (1970)
* Un peu de soleil dans l'eau froide (1971)
* The Wedding Ring (1971)
* Taking Off (1971)
* The Outside Man (1972)
* The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie (1972)
* Liza (1972)
* The Monk (1972)
* The Phantom of Liberty (1974)
* The Woman in Red Boots (1974)
* Serious as Pleasure (1975)
* La Chair de l'orchidée (1975)
* Weak Spot (1975)
* Scrambled Eggs (1976)
* Le Gang (1977)
* That Obscure Object of Desire (1977)
* Butterfly on the Shoulder (1978)
* Surprise Sock (1978)
* Jigsaw (1979)
* The Tin Drum (1979)
* Return to the Beloved (1979)
* The Associate (1979)
* Every Man for Himself (1980)
* The Return of Martin Guerre (1982)
* Passion (1982)
* The General of the Dead Army (1983)
* Danton (1983)
* Swann in Love (1984)
* Exploits of a Young Don Juan (1986)
* The Last Image (1986)
* Max, Mon Amour (1986)
* The Unbearable Lightness of Being (1988)
* The Possessed (1988)
* The Bengali Night (1988)
* Valmont (1989)
* Hard to Be a God (1989)
* The Mahabharata (1989)
* May Fools (1990)
* Cyrano de Bergerac (1990)
* At Play in the Fields of the Lord (1991)
* The Return of Casanova (1992)
* The Night and the Moment (1995)
* The Horseman on the Roof (1995)
* The Ogre (1996)
* Chinese Box (1997)
* War in the Highlands (1998)
* Birth (2004)
* Goya's Ghosts (2006)
* Ulzhan (2007)
* The Artist and the Model (2012)
* The Patience Stone (2012)
* In the Shadow of Women (2015)
* Lover for a Day (2017)
* A Faithful Man (2018)
* At Eternity's Gate (2018)
* The Salt of Tears (2020)
* The Crusade (2021)
* Land of Dreams (2021)
* The Plough (2023)

Stage works|

* The Mahabharata (1985)
* Clara (1998)
* Wagner Dream (2007)

TV series written|

* The Adventures of Robinson Crusoe (1964)

Books written|

* The Power of Buddhism (1999)

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