I SOLITI IGNOTI

(Redirected from Big Deal on Madonna Street)

'''I soliti ignoti''' is a 1958 Italian crime film, directed by Mario Monicelli. Its title means "the usual unknown persons", a bureaucratic phrase for unidentified criminals. It was released as '''Persons Unknown''' in the UK and as '''Big Deal on Madonna Street''' in the USA. The film is a comedy about a group of small-time thieves and ne'er-do-wells who bungle an attempt to burgle a state-run pawn shop called Monte di Pieta'. It stars Marcello Mastroianni and Vittorio Gassman, both of whose careers were helped considerably by the success of the film, along with Claudia Cardinale and Totò.
The film is currently distributed in Region 1 by The Criterion Collection and for the Italian market in Region 2 by 20th Century Fox. Crackers is 1984 American remake directed by Louis Malle.

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Sequel

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Sequel

A sequel directed by Nanni Loy followed in 1960, reuniting the entire cast aside from Mastroianni, entitled ''Audace colpo dei soliti ignoti'' (released in English as ''Hold-up à la Milanaise'').
Many years later in 1987 a second sequel was made, directed by Amanzio Todini. It is called ''I Soliti ignoti vent'anni dopo'' (released on DVD in the USA as ''Big Deal On Madonna Street - 20 Years Later'' by Koch Lorber).

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★ Criterion Collection essay by Bruce Eder