Details

Release year: 1958

Storyline

A motley quintet of inept small-time thieves attempt the burglary of a local pawnshop in this Italian farce.

Top credits

Directors

Mario Monicelli

Writers

Cast

Vittorio Gassman — Giuseppe 'Peppe er Pantera' Baiocchi
Marcello Mastroianni — Tiberio Braschi
Renato Salvatori — Mario Angeletti
Totò — Dante Cruciani

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Awards

0 wins & 1 nomination

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Did you know

• This movie turned actress Claudia Cardinale into a major star of Italian cinema. During the production, she was 20 years old and secretly pregnant with her first child.

• Big Deal on Madonna Street (1958) was shot in 10 weeks on locations throughout Rome--save for getting through the wall which was done in studio. There is no Madonna Street ("Via Delle Madonne" in the original) in the center of Rome; the robbery takes place in a building at the corner between Via Delle Tre Cannelle e via Della Cordonata, near Piazza Venezia. The apartment and pawnshop were in reality located at 7-8, Via delle Tre Cannelle (41.896613°N 12.486°E), immediately north of Trajan's Market. The building is still standing as of 2019.

• Mario Monicelli wanted to call its movie "Le Madame," and only in a second moment changed it into "I Soliti Ignoti" (Usual Unknowns). Le Madame is an Italian slang for Policemen.