Rififi In Paris aka The Upper Hand is a story about an experienced gold-smuggler Paul Berger “Paulo” (Jean Gabin, Moontide, The Sicilian Clan) and his partner Walter (Gert Frobe, Goldfinger) is at war with other gangsters who would like to be part of the gold-smuggling operation including a gang from America, led by Charles Binnaggio (screen legend George Raft, Scarface). Paul has also recruited various smugglers for his jobs, which unbeknownst to him, includes Mike Coppolano (Claudio Brook, Viva Maria!) who is an undercover agent out to stop Paulo.

I found Rififi in Paris to be an enjoyable crime thriller with the cast members playing their parts perfectly and with solid direction.

Rififi in Paris arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Kino Lorber. The image quality for this release is excellent with bold, rich colors. Daylight scenes look fantastic ranging from clear blue skies to outdoor scenery which tends to also look vivid with excellent details and rich textures. Flesh tones look accurate, especially during some great close-up scenes between George Raft and Jean Gabin.

The French DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 soundtrack comes in clear without any drop-offs or hissing. The music and dialog consistently sound pleasant without any sounds or action noises coming in too aggressively. For the scenes with George Raft, English dialog is spoken. English subtitles are available for this release.  

There are some supplements as well. Kino offers an audio commentary by Filmmaker/Historian Daniel Kremer and cinematographer Aaron Hollander. The other extra is several trailers from various French/Jean Gabin films that Kino Lorber has released.

This is another superb French thriller with a great international cast including American screen legend George Raft and German screen legend Gerte Frobe. This movie may remind some of those great gangster films of the thirties! The release by Kino Lorber is recommended with excellent audio and video quality and a few supplements to make this one fine package!

Rififi in Paris (aka The Upper Hand)

Director- Denys de La Patellière

Cast- Jean Rabin, George Raft, Gert Frobe

Country of Origin- France

Distributor – Kino Lorber

Number of Discs – 1

Reviewed by – David Steigman

Date-9/26/21