Les Tontons flingueurs

Les Tontons flingueurs
Directed by	Georges Lautner
Written by	novel Albert Simonin dialogue Michel Audiard Georges Lautner
Produced by	Irénée Leriche Alain Poiré Robert Sussfeld
Starring	Lino Ventura Bernard Blier Francis Blanche
Cinematography	Maurice Fellous
Edited by	Michelle David
Music by	Michel Magne
Production company	SNEG
Distributed by	Gaumont
Release dates	4 October 1963 (1963-10-04) (West Germany) 27 November 1963 (1963-11-27) (France)
Running time	105 minutes
Countries	France, West Germany, Italy
Languages	English, German, French
Box office	$24.9 million[1]

Les Tontons flingueurs (English: Crooks in Clover, also known as Monsieur Gangster, literally Gun-toting Uncles) is a 1963 French-Italian-West German crime comedy film with French dialogue, directed by Georges Lautner. It is an adaptation of the Albert Simonin book Grisbi or not grisbi.^[2] The film is the final installment in the Max le Menteur trilogy; it was preceded by Touchez pas au grisbi and Le cave se rebiffe.

The film was not popular with critics upon its first release in 1963, but was popular with the public. Its reputation has grown over the years to cult status and it is now a French television classic, with snatches of dialogue and names of characters (like the prostitute Lulu la Nantaise) becoming part of popular culture. Its DVD version, released in 2002, sold 250,000 copies.

One of the most famous scenes is set in a kitchen where the gangsters try to make conversation while drinking a vile and strong liquor. Screenwriter Michel Audiard considered the scene useless but director Lautner included it in homage to the film noir Key Largo.^[3]