View source for Un flic

{{Short description|1972 film by Jean-Pierre Melville}}
{{distinguish|A Cop (1947 film)}}
{{Infobox film
| name           = Un flic
| image          = Flic.jpg
| caption        = Theatrical release poster
| director       = [[Jean-Pierre Melville]]
| writer         = Jean-Pierre Melville
| producer       = [[Robert Dorfmann]]
| starring       = {{Plainlist|
* [[Alain Delon]]
* [[Richard Crenna]]
* [[Catherine Deneuve]]
* [[Riccardo Cucciolla]]
* [[Michael Conrad]]
* [[Paul Crauchet]]
* [[Simone Valère]]
* [[André Pousse]]
* [[Jean Desailly]]
}}
| cinematography = [[Walter Wottitz]]
| editing        = Patricia Nény
| music          = [[Michel Colombier]]
| studio         = {{Plainlist|
* Euro International Films
* Oceania Produzini Internazionali Cinematografiche
}}
| distributor    = {{Plainlist|
* [[Les Films Corona]] (France)
* Euro International Films (Italy)
}}
| released       = {{film date|df=y|1972|10|25|France|1972|12|21|Italy}}
| runtime        = 100 minutes
| country        = {{Plainlist|
* France
* Italy
}}
| language       = French
| budget         = 
| gross          = {{Plainlist|
* $8.8 million<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.jpbox-office.com/fichfilm.php?id=8673|title=Un flic (1972)|website=JP Box-Office|language=fr|access-date=14 February 2014}}</ref>
* 1,464,806 admissions (France)<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.boxofficestory.com/box-office-alain-delon-c22669761/38 |title=Un flic – Alain Delon Box Office 1972 |website=Box Office Story |language=fr |access-date=24 November 2023}}</ref>
}}
}}
'''''Un flic''''' ('A Cop'), also known as '''''Dirty Money''''', is a 1972 [[crime thriller film]], the last directed by [[Jean-Pierre Melville]] before his death the following year. It stars [[Alain Delon]], [[Richard Crenna]] and [[Catherine Deneuve]]. Delon had previously portrayed criminals in Melville's ''[[Le Samouraï]]'' (1967) and ''[[Le Cercle Rouge]]'' (1970), but in ''Un flic'', his role is reversed, and he plays the title character.

==Plot==
On a rainy winter day in [[Saint-Jean-de-Monts]], France, Simon and his three accomplices rob a bank. Marc Albouis and Paul Weber come inside with Simon, while Louis Costa, the getaway driver, waits outside. As they are about to leave, the [[Bank teller|teller]] sets off the alarm and shoots Marc, who shoots and kills the teller. The gang escape with only part of the loot and drive back to Paris, where they place Marc in ''Clinique Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire'',<ref name="ramsaysante/cgsh">{{cite web |title=Accueil |url=https://hopital-prive-geoffroy-saint-hilaire-paris.ramsaysante.fr/ |website=hopital-prive-geoffroy-saint-hilaire-paris.ramsaysante.fr - Hôpital Privé Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire |access-date=25 March 2025}}</ref> a private clinic, under the alias "Schmidt".

[[Commissaire de police|Commissaire]] Edouard Coleman spends his nights driving around Paris from crime scene to crime scene. He also meets with his informants, such as Gaby, a [[Transgender sex workers|transgender prostitute]] who is currently feeding him information about an upcoming drug shipment that involves one of her clients. Edouard goes to the nightclub Simon owns just after it closes for the night and plays the piano while Simon's girlfriend, Cathy, watches. Simon returns from Saint-Jean-de-Monts, and Edouard greets him before getting called away by his partner, Inspector Morand.

As the press reports that one of the assailants was injured during the robbery, Simon, Louis and Paul set out to transfer Marc out of the clinic before the police search the facility. When a nurse refuses to release Marc due to his health status, Simon sends Cathy into his room disguised as a nurse, and she injects air into his IV, causing a fatal [[Air embolism|embolism]]. Edouard is assigned to investigate the true identity of "Schmidt", but he does not expect to succeed. He meets Cathy in a hotel room for a tryst, and later deduces that Simon has always known about their affair.

Simon's next venture is to steal a large quantity of [[heroin]] being transported out of France by a professional [[Mule (smuggling)|mule]], Mathieu "la Valise", on a night train from Paris to Lisbon, with Mathieu's associates delivering the drugs to him in [[Bordeaux]]. Tipped off by Gaby, Edouard sets up an operation to catch Mathieu in [[Bayonne]]. Meanwhile, Simon descends from a helicopter onto the speeding train, breaks into Mathieu's cabin, neutralises him with chloroform, and is successfully winched up with the drugs.

Furious that the drugs were not recovered, Edouard berates Gaby and slaps her around for supposedly providing him with false information. When Morand presents Edouard with Marc's autopsy, revealing his real name, Edouard instantly connects Marc to Louis, who is a known associate of Simon. He calls Simon, who is not available, and then calls his chief to ask if Marc's name can be kept out of the press, but the chief says it is too late.

Edouard arrests Louis at a restaurant and brings him to the precinct, where Edouard gets the seemingly indomitable Louis to name Simon and Paul. Edouard goes to the nightclub alone and questions Simon, who denies knowing Marc, Paul or Louis. Edouard then reveals that Louis admitted to knowing Simon, before leaving. Simon immediately warns Paul by telephone, but Edouard and some of his men arrive and burst into Paul's apartment before he can flee; Paul ultimately shoots himself in the head.

Simon hides out at the {{ill|Hôtel Splendid Étoile|fr}} at the [[Arc de Triomphe]],<ref>https://parismacadam.fr/autres/PMLA-Actualisation_2009_du_parcours_Paris-Cine-Rando.pdf</ref> and calls Cathy to pick him up, but the police trace the call. As Simon emerges from the hotel carrying an attaché case full of heroin, the waiting Edouard draws a gun and tells him not to move. Simon reaches into his overcoat, and Edouard shoots him dead while Cathy watches helplessly from her car. However, when Edouard inspects Simon's body, he finds he had no gun, leading him to believe it was [[suicide by cop]]. Edouard and Cathy exchange glances before he and Morand are called away on another case. Their [[car phone]] rings, but they do not answer.

==Cast ==
{{Cast listing|
* [[Alain Delon]] as [[Commissaire de police|Commissaire]] Edouard Coleman
* [[Richard Crenna]] as Simon, Edouard's friend, Cathy's boyfriend, the owner of a nightclub, ''Simon's'', and the leader of a gang
* [[Catherine Deneuve]] as Cathy, Simon's girlfriend, who is having an affair with Edouard
* [[Riccardo Cucciolla]] as Paul Weber, a former banker who is now part of Simon's gang
* [[Michael Conrad]] as Louis Costa, the getaway driver in Simon's gang
* [[Paul Crauchet]] as Inspector Morand, Edouard's partner
* [[Simone Valère]] as Paul's wife
* [[André Pousse]] as Marc Albouis, the primary gunman of Simon's gang
* [[Jean Desailly]] as the older homosexual man who was almost robbed by a teenager
* {{ill|Valérie Wilson|fr}} as Gaby, a [[transgender]] prostitute who tells Edouard about her clients' criminal activities in exchange for being left alone
* {{ill|Henri Marteau (acteur)|fr|lt=Henri Marteau}} as the police officer who instructs Edouard in rapid-fire shooting
* Catherine Rethi as the nurse at Geoffroy St. Hilaire Clinic who refuses to transfer Marc
* {{ill|Philippe Gasté|fr}} as one of Edouard's detectives
* Dominique Zentar as the teenager who tried to rob the older homosexual man
* {{ill|Jean Minisini|fr|lt=Léon Minisini}} as Mathieu "la Valise" ("the Suitcase"), a drug [[Mule (smuggling)|mule]]
* Roger Fradet as the [[Bank teller|teller]] at the branch of [[Banque Nationale de Paris]] (BNP) in [[Saint-Jean-de-Monts]]
* {{ill|Jacques Galland|fr}} as the [[Conductor (rail)|train conductor]]
* Jean-Pierre Posier as one of the men who hands over the [[heroin]] to Mathieu in [[Bordeaux]]
* Jacques Leroy as one of the men who hands over the heroin to Mathieu in Bordeaux
* Michel Fretault as an employee at the branch of BNP in Saint-Jean-de-Monts
* Gene Moyle as the elderly man on the train
* Pierre Vaudier as the manager of the branch of BNP in Saint-Jean-de-Monts
}}

==Crew==
The film's crew included Alain Delon's brother, Jean-François Delon ([[first assistant director]]); Jean Gabin's daughter, Florence Moncorgé ([[script supervisor]]); and [[Jacques Tati]]'s son, Pierre Tati (second assistant director), and daughter, [[Sophie Tatischeff|Sophie Tati]] (assistant editor).

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
* {{IMDb title}}
* {{Rotten Tomatoes}}
* {{TCMDb title}}

{{Jean-Pierre Melville}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Flic, Un}}
[[Category:1972 films]]
[[Category:1972 crime thriller films]]
[[Category:1970s French films]]
[[Category:1970s French-language films]]
[[Category:1970s heist films]]
[[Category:1970s Italian films]]
[[Category:Films directed by Jean-Pierre Melville]]
[[Category:Films produced by Robert Dorfmann]]
[[Category:Films scored by Michel Colombier]]
[[Category:Films set in Paris]]
[[Category:Films set in Pays de la Loire]]
[[Category:Films shot in Bordeaux]]
[[Category:Films shot in Paris]]
[[Category:Films shot in Pays de la Loire]]
[[Category:French crime thriller films]]
[[Category:French heist films]]
[[Category:French neo-noir films]]
[[Category:French police films]]
[[Category:French-language Italian films]]
[[Category:Italian crime thriller films]]
[[Category:Italian heist films]]
[[Category:Italian neo-noir films]]
[[Category:Italian police films]]
[[Category:Police detective films]]