Big Deal on Madonna Street (; released in the UK as Persons Unknown) is a 1958 Italian comedy caper film directed by Mario Monicelli and considered to be among the masterpieces of Italian cinema. Its original Italian title literally translates as "the usual unknown ones", which is roughly equivalent to the English phrase "the usual suspects". The name of the Roman street in the English title is a slight mistranslation, as the Italian name of the fictional Roman street on which the midnight burglary in the film takes place is the Via delle Madonne ("The Street of the Madonnas") rather than "Madonna Street". Compounding the confusion is the fact that the real Roman street on which the scene was filmed is the Via delle tre cannelle ("The Street of the Three Spouts"), rather than the Via delle tre Madonne ("The Street of the Three Madonnas").
The film is a comedy about a group of small-time thieves and ne'er-do-wells who bungle an attempt to burgle a pawn shop in Rome. The five hapless would-be burglars are played by Vittorio Gassman, Renato Salvatori, Carlo Pisacane, Tiberio Murgia and Marcello Mastroianni. The careers of both Gassman and Mastroianni were considerably helped by the success of the film - Gassman in particular, since before this point he was not deemed suitable for comedic roles. Claudia Cardinale is featured in a minor role (a chaste, black-clad Sicilian girl, almost held prisoner at home by her overbearing brother, played by Murgia); she would later rise to fame for other work. In addition to its cast and plot, the film is also notable for its breezy jazz score by composer Piero Umiliani, who helped develop the style of the jazz soundtracks now considered characteristic of European films in the 1960s and 1970s.
The producers were initially skeptical about the film's success, so the appearance of the famous comedian Totò was highlighted on the original poster to boost audience interest, even though his character, used for comic relief, chooses to remain a consultant to the heist gang, rather than joining it outright.
The film is distributed in Region 1 by The Criterion Collection and for the Italian market in Region 2 by 20th Century Fox.
In 2008, the film was included on the Italian Ministry of Cultural Heritage's 100 Italian films to be saved, a list of 100 films that "have changed the collective memory of the country between 1942 and 1978."
Plot
A hapless small-time Roman crook, Cosimo (Memmo Carotenuto), is arrested for a bungled car theft and sentenced to a few months in prison. He harangues his girlfriend and lawyer to get him released so he can carry out a heist idea stolen from another inmate, a dishonest bricklayer who purposely constructed a flimsy wall between a pawn shop safe and an adjacent vacant apartment. Ultimately, Cosimo's gang bribes Peppe (Vittorio Gassman), a boxer with a clean criminal record, to confess. The warden does not believe Peppe, however, and he ends up in jail alongside Cosimo. Peppe tells Cosimo that he has been sentenced to three long years for this minor offense. Cosimo, to justify his actions, explains the details of the pawn shop heist to Peppe. Peppe then gleefully reveals that he was only given a year's probation and walks out the prison gate, infuriating Cosimo.
Peppe takes up the heist plan with Cosimo's gang: Mario (Renato Salvatori), a petty thief and the youngest member of the group; Michele (Tiberio Murgia), a posturing Sicilian crook who needs money for his sheltered sister's dowry; Tiberio (Marcello Mastroianni), a down and out photographer caring for his baby while his wife is in jail on a minor offense; and Capannelle (Carlo Pisacane), an elderly pickpocket. Tiberio steals a movie camera from a flea market and attempts to film the pawn shop safe's combination with a telephoto lens, but without success. Since none involved have the skill to crack the safe, they enlist the help of genteel local safe cracker Dante (Totò), who is careful not to violate his parole but supplies tools and gives them a brief primer.