Big Deal on Madonna Street (1958)

When it comes to old Italian movies, I kinda suck as the titles are often all I know about those movies. It was the same with Big Deal on Madonna Street (Italian: I soliti ignoti) which ended up on my watch-list many years ago, but only because I've heard people mention it many times over the years and I thought I should eventually check it out.

The film starts with small-time thief Cosimo (Memmo Carotenuto) being arrested for trying to steal a car. After he is convicted, he asks his girlfriend (Rossana Rory) and lawyer to find someone who, for 100,000 lire, will take his place in prison so that he can pull off a heist at a pawnshop. A washed-up boxer, Peppe (Vittorio Gassman), agrees to switch places, but the judge doesn't believe them and they both end up in jail. When Peppe learns about the plan, he tricks Cosimo into explaining him every single detail of it, and when he gets out, months before Cosimo does, he recruits Cosimo's band of petty criminals to pull off the heist.