All that remains is friendship. No film noir performance captures “world weary” better than Jean Gabin’s in Jacques Becker’s Touchez pas au grisbi, a nontraditional gangster film that brilliantly capitalizes on Gabin’s age (50 years old) and legend as France’s tough anti-hero (Port of Shadows, 1938; Le jour se leve, 1939) to bring to life Max, an aging criminal in his twilight years looking to retire with the fortune he picked up on his last heist. His best friend Riton (René Dary), whom he calls “Porcupine Head,” is at the same stage of life: the two men share the fortune, which is stored in Max’s garage in the form of gold bars, and both are dating women half their age despite misgivings. This twilight atmosphere floods nearly every scene, beginning and ending with the breaking of bread at Madame Bouche’s, a restaurant popular among criminals old and new. When Riton’s girlfriend Josy (Jeanne Moreau) gets a little too close to rival gangster Angelo Fraiser (Lino Ventura in his first film appearance) and lets slip about the gold stash, Max and Riton are forced to hide out until they can liquidate the loot, but nothing will be settled until machine guns and hand grenades enter the picture. A harmonica refrain in Wiener’s score adds mournful nostalgia to many scenes, especially those involving Riton who often seems to lack agency and urgency, especially during the evening biscuits and bedtime routine at Max’s spare apartment. In contrast to the sobriety of the two leads, Becker incorporates opulent set design such as the grand gate and wrought-iron banisters that add dramatic shadows inside Max’s building or the geometrical nightclub space where dancing girls pop off the stage.