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The Sicilian Clan movie storyline. In Paris, bloodthirsty jewel thief Roger Sartet (Alain Delon) escapes from custody with the help of the Manalese, a small-time but well-organised Sicilian Mafia clan led by patriarch Vittorio (Jean Gabin), which includes his sons Aldo (Yves Lefebvre), Sergio (Marc Porel), and son-in-law Luigi (Philippe Baronnet).
While in prison, Sartet shared a cell with an electrician (Christian de Tillière) who installed an extensive security system at a diamond exhibition in Rome. The electrician is in prison because, when he returned home early, he caught his wife in bed with a lover and shot them. Sartet offered a sympathetic ear and the electrician supplied him with the complete security system details.
Vittorio and a fellow Mafiose, Tony Nicosia (Amedeo Nazzari) of New York, visit the exhibition but find that additional security has been added that make what would have been a simple robbery very difficult. When they purposefully set off the alarm system, they find the local police station is just down the road from the exhibition hall. Nicosia conceives of an alternative plan to steal the diamonds while they are in transit to another show in New York. He sends Jack (Sydney Chaplin), an alcoholic, to France to inform Vittorio with the details.
Commissaire Le Goff (Lino Ventura) pursues Sartet with unbridled determination. Sartet killed two of his men in cold blood during an earlier arrest. Guessing that Sartet needs false papers in order to leave the country, Le Goff’s enquiries lead him to the Malanese and their arcade game business which serves as a cover for their more illegal activities. While he questions Vittorio, Sartet slips out of the building in a car, right under Le Goff’s nose.
The Sicilian Clan (French: Le Clan des Siciliens) is a 1969 French gangster film based on the novel by Auguste Le Breton. The film was directed by Henri Verneuil and stars Jean Gabin, Lino Ventura and Alain Delon, whose casting led to the film’s box-office success in France. Ennio Morricone completed the score for the picture.
About the Story
In Paris, jewel thief Roger Sartet escapes from custody with the help of the Manalese, a small-time but well-organised Sicilian Mafia clan led by patriarch Vittorio and which includes his sons Aldo and Sergio and son-in-law Luigi. In prison, Sartet got to know an electrician involved in setting up an extensive security system at a diamond exhibition in Rome — the electrician returned home early, unannounced, caught his wife in bed with a lover and shot them. Unaccustomed to prison life, he made friends with Sartet and bit-by-bit supplied him with details of the exhibition and its security system.
Vittorio and a fellow Mafiose, Tony Nicosia of New York City, go to the exhibition, only to find that changes make a simple robbery difficult. Furthermore, the exhibition hall is near a police station. Nicosia instead comes up with a plan to steal the diamonds while they are en route to another exhibition in New York and sends over Jack, an alcoholic, in order to pass on the details.
Meanwhile, Commissaire Le Goff pursues Sartet with unbridled determination — the gangster having killed two of his men in cold blood during an earlier arrest. Guessing that Sartet needs false papers in order to leave the country, Le Goff’s enquiries lead him to the Manalese and their arcade game business which serves as a cover for their illegal activities. While he questions Vittorio, Sartet slips out of the building, under Le Goff’s nose.
Jeanne, the wife of Vittorio’s son Aldo and an able crook, becomes fascinated by Sartet. She has always felt out of place as the only French person in the Sicilian clan. While hiding out, she attracts Sartet’s attention by sunbathing nude but as they kiss they are seen by Luigi’s six-year-old son Roberto. Jeanne gets the boy to promise not to mention it to anyone.
In Rome, the gang discreetly kidnap Edward Evans, the insurance man sent to oversee the transfer of the diamonds to New York. Sartet takes his place and joins the other officials accompanying the diamonds on a regular scheduled flight. Among the passengers joining the plane are Jack, Jeanne, Vittorio and his sons. Things almost go wrong when Evans’ wife turns up, but Vittorio leads her to believe that her husband’s same numbered flight is on the following day.
Having failed to contact, Mrs Evans goes to the police. At police HQ, she identifies Sartet as one of the men she saw on the plane. Meanwhile, the plane is making its descent towards New York when the gang hijacks the aircraft.
Warned of Sartet’s imminent arrival in the United States, the local police race to the airport while the plane lands on a highway which has been closed off by gang’s local members. Other Mafia men waiting in cars unload the diamonds from the plane and split up, Jack for Canada and the Manalese for Paris. Intending to move to Veracruz, Sartet hides out in New York while awaiting his share of the proceeds.
The Sicilian Clan (1969)
Directed by: Henri Verneuil
Starring: Jean Gabin, Alain Delon, Lino Ventura, Irina Demick, Amedeo Nazzari, Philippe Baronnet, Karen Blanguernon, Yves Brainville, Gérard Buhr, Elisa Cegani, Sally Nesbitt
Screenplay by: Henri Verneuil, José Giovanni, Pierre Pélégri
Production Design by: Jacques Saulnier
Cinematography by: Henri Decaë
Film Editing by: Pierre Gillette
Costume Design by: Hélène Nourry
Art Direction by: Hélène Nourry
Music by: Ennio Morricone
MPAA Rating: None.
Distributed by: 20th Century Fox
Release Date: December 1, 1969
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