Lucky Jo

1964 1h 30m FR

👍

6.7

SOLID

★6.7TMDB · 24

Crime

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

Lucky Jo and his three friends are little criminals, who try to live from small burglaries. But they never have luck - ever so often something inpredictable happens to Jo and gets one of them arrested. While Jo is in prison once again, they decide they'd better do without him in future. He decides to help them secretly...and unfortunately.

“Some stories are better left unspoiled.”

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Cast

Eddie Constantine
Lucky Jo
Pierre Brasseur
Loudéac
Jean-Pierre Darras
Napo
Françoise Arnoul
Mimi Perrin
Jean-Pierre Rambal
Le commissaire Guillaumet
Anouk Ferjac
La femme importunée dans le bar
André Cellier
Gabriel Farcasse
Christiane Minazzoli
Adeline

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Michel Deville
Writers: Michel Deville, Nina Companéez
Languages: French
Countries: France

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 7

RUNTIME

Did you know

90 minutes exactly — the "classic feature" runtime most directors aim for.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 7

ERA

Did you know

62 years old — a genuine piece of film history.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 7

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by Michel Deville, shot by Claude Lecomte. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 7

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor Nina Companéez shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 7

CAST

Did you know

Eddie Constantine and Pierre Brasseur and Jean-Pierre Darras carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 7

WILD

Did you know

IMDB entry: tt0058306 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 7

WILD

Did you know

Only 24 TMDB ratings — you're getting ahead of the curve on this one.

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Michel Deville directs. Claude Lecomte behind the camera. Nina Companéez cuts. Runs lean at under 100 minutes. Produced in France. Dialogue in French.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

190 minutes exactly — the "classic feature" runtime most directors aim for.
262 years old — a genuine piece of film history.
3Directed by Michel Deville, shot by Claude Lecomte. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
4Editor Nina Companéez shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
5Eddie Constantine and Pierre Brasseur and Jean-Pierre Darras carry the top of the cast.
6IMDB entry: tt0058306 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
7Only 24 TMDB ratings — you're getting ahead of the curve on this one.

The technical file

Cinematography: Claude Lecomte
Editing: Nina Companéez
Production design: Gilbert Margerie
Makeup / hair: Jacques Dessange
Runtime: 90 min · 1h 30m
Status: Released
Original language: FR
IMDB: Lucky Jo (1964)

Also by

Michel Deville

Community reviews

What people are saying

John Chard2020-05-23
★ 7/10
Lucky Jo - He's Not Slow Lucky Jo is directed by Michel Deville and adapted to screenplay by Nina Companeez and Michel Deville from the novel "Main pleine" written by Pierre-Vial Lesou. It stars Eddie Constantine, Pierre Brasseur, Georges Wilson, Christiane Minazzoli, Jean-Pierre Darras, Françoise Arnoul and André Cellier. Music is by Georges Delerue and cinematography by Claude Lecomte. Lucky Jo (Constantine) and his three friends are petty criminals who try to get by from small burglaries. But they never seem to have any luck, with the source of misfortune usually accountable to Jo. While Jo is in prison once again, they decide they'd better do without him in future, but he decides to help them from afar - with less than successful results - again! As most serious film noir lovers will tell you, the French continued making film noir movies throughout the 1960 - with outstanding rewards. What is evident here with Lucky Jo, is that a French production also managed to achieve that rare old skill of making a crime/noir/comedy that works. To emphasise the comedy aspects is kind of under selling the pic, for it has great drama, action, tragedy and fulsome characterisations. You may find upon viewing this one that you be laughing uneasily for darkness is never too far away. The initial capers at pic's start have a splendid hapless whiff to them, but once the trajectory of Jo's bad luck starts to take shape, the narrative ups the ante for dramatic purpose with that devilish noir trait of coincidence biting hard. Sure enough, our main protagonist ends up in all sorts of trouble, hunted for ghastly crimes purely because noir has dealt its crafty hand. Cue great punch ups, cool moments as Jo (Constantine is great) goes about trying to prove his innocence, even gathering a smart and loyal canine partner (hello "High Sierra") in the process. Hell, he even has time to rescue a bar dwelling dame (Anouk Ferjac) from drunken male suitors. There's a clinical turn of events that belies the comedic strands that drift in and out, and it's here where the Jo character comes alive. All of which leads to a finale that doesn't disappoint. Hugely enjoyable pic for like minded genre/style fans, that is on proviso it is ultimately an odd blend of genres that will not appeal to the casual film fan. 7/10

Production companies