Mélodie en sous-sol [Any Number Can Win] (Henri Verneuil, 1963)
Sep
6
Tue
Mario (Henri Virlojeux), bathhouse proprietor. A nearby wall calendar reads mardi, septembre 6. DP: Louis Page.
“He won't listen to anybody. He's been very crazy all summer. Since June he's been trying to kill me.”
Dog Day Afternoon (Sidney Lumet, 1975)
Aug
22
1972
Sal (John Cazale) and Sonny (Al Pacino) in the bank, holding out with their increasingly impatient hostages. DP: Victor J. Kemper.
– Leon
– We'll go to an island and live from fishing and hunting. And the sun will shine and it will never rain. And we'll eat lobster and drink wine.
– …
– Why not?
– Because it's too expensive.
– Why too expensive?
– It's just too expensive.
Götter der Pest [Gods of the Plague] (Rainer Werner Fassbinder, 1970)
Jul
16
The Gorilla (Günther Kaufmann) and Franz (Harry Baer) reflected in the window of a deserted supermarket at night (via). DP: Dietrich Lohmann.
Someone complains about costs or prices*
* the Bales 2025 Film Challenge for July is, for unknown reasons, mostly not date-related and follows some sort of vacation narrative.
– I saw you the other morning, eating frites. – I like frites.
Bob le flambeur [Bob the Gambler] (Jean-Pierre Melville, 1956)
Jun
13
frites
Anne (Isabelle Corey), a cute blonde with a beret, eats a fry (French, obviously) while giving us a side glance. It's all very proto-Vague. DP: Henri Decaë.
“I'd even lose at hopscotch these days.”
Bob le flambeur [Bob the Gambler] (Jean-Pierre Melville, 1956)
Jun
13
Friday
Bob (Roger Duchesne) at the tables, gambling. DP: Henri Decaë.
An unlucky character on Friday the 13th
– Bob Montagné
Bob gambles, and always wins. But then he starts losing. And not just games.
Le temps des loups [The Heist] (Sergio Gobbi, 1970)
Jun
12
1938
Dillinger (Robert Hossein) followed by Stella (Virna Lisi). DP: Daniel Diot.
“Left early. Please come with the money… or, you keep the Rolls. All my love,
The Thomas Crown Affair (Norman Jewison, 1968)
Jun
9
A newspaper covered in food scraps. Barely legible a large ad: BE A FINK FOR $25,000! WAS HE IN BOSTON ON JUNE 9TH? DP: Haskell Wexler.
Tommy”
Supermarkt [Die Stadt, Jane Love / Supermarket] (Roland Klick, 1974)
Mar
30
Willi Hansen (Charly Wierzejewski) in a phone booth. Filmed from the outside in, his face is partially obscured by neon lights. DP: Jost Vacano.
“Three days ago, at exactly 0600 – because that is really not the time – on February 5 – because that is really not the date – this freighter, which shall be nameless, sailed from a certain Far Eastern port. Its destination: The Port of Los Angeles, Wilmington, California. This is fact.”
Hell Bound (William J. Hole Jr., 1957)
Mar
12
Saturday
A man writes a name in the 9:30 a.m. time slot of the calendar page for Saturday March 21. DP: Carl E. Guthrie.
– narrator
Assalto ao Trem Pagador [Assault on the Pay Train] (Roberto Farias, 1962)
Feb
17
WH helicopter incident – 1974
The favelados-turned-train-robbers. DP: Amleto Daissé.
A heist on the date of the 1974 White House helicopter incident.