L’assassino

Marcello Mastroianni is an antiques dealer who is taken in by the police, accused of murdering his lover. It’s not as much of a crime thriller as that description implies and is more a study of the character of a charming grifter told through a series of interrogations and subsequent flashbacks. Jazzy Piero Piccioni score and swell black and white cinematography. I love how the hard-boiled cops need to grab a manly cup o’ Joe to warm up, but then are reduced to drinking from tiny Italian espresso cups like a bunch of European dandies.