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To Kill a Cop

To Kill a Cop (Pour la peau d'un flic)

Movie · 1981 · 3 people

The French crime and action film Pour la peau d'un flic (1981), released in English as To Kill a Cop, runs about 105 minutes and was shot in French. What sets it apart is that it was the first time the internationally known actor Alain Delon stepped behind the camera: he is both director and lead, and it was the first of only two films he ever directed. It opened on 9 September 1981 and sold 2,377,084 tickets in France, a solid response from audiences.

The script is based on Jean-Patrick Manchette's novel Que d'os!, and Delon plays the private detective Choucas. He adapted the text with Christopher Frank. Alongside Jean-Pierre Darras, Dominique Zardi and Henri Attal, the cast includes Anne Parillaud, Daniel Ceccaldi, Michel Auclair, Gérard Hérold, Brigitte Lahaie, Claire Nadeau and Étienne Chicot.

The production company was Adel Productions and the French distributor was UGC. In Germany the film appeared on 13 August 1982 as Rette deine Haut, Killer; it is known as Afacerea Pigot in Romania as Por la piel de un policía in Spanish and as Gia to tomari enos batsou in Greece.

DirectorAlain Delon
Production companyAdel Productions

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Cast

Only cast members with a profile on this site are listed.

Jean-Pierre Darras Jean-Pierre Darras Film actor · died at 71 Dominique Zardi Actor · died at 79 Henri Attal Henri Attal Actor · died at 67

Titles sharing this cast

Through different eyes

Cinephile Looks at script, editing and directing choices; keeps a distance from formula films.

Alain Delon's first turn in the director's chair is an exercise that shows how well a star understands his own image. His adaptation of Jean-Patrick Manchette's novel, written with Christopher Frank, turns the private detective Choucas into a quintessential Delon hero: cool, solitary, self-assured. That is also where the trouble starts; the camera serves its star almost constantly, and the large supporting cast risks becoming a set of figures orbiting him. Still, the hard, spare texture of early-eighties French crime cinema is in place, and Delon clearly speaks the genre's language. Over 2.3 million tickets sold in France show audiences trusted the star-director package. Not a masterwork, but a debut worth your curiosity.

Action & Thriller Fan Puts pace, tension and set pieces first; little patience for slow drama.

Alain Delon both behind and in front of the camera, in a crime thriller: on paper, a package you can't skip. The private-eye story works to keep you hooked, and Delon carries scenes on charisma alone. If you're not used to eighties pacing, though, some stretches may drag. If French crime films are your thing, it's a good pick for an evening.

Yeşilçam Nostalgic A viewer raised on the classics, looking for warm storytelling and strong acting.

For my generation, Alain Delon is the very name of elegance and quiet charisma on screen. Seeing him as the private detective Choucas, in a film he directed himself, is like meeting an old friend again. Still, I will say it frankly: do not look here for Yeşilçam's warmth or a moral centre that touches the heart; this is the cool, detached world of the French crime film. Knowing that Delon directed only two films in his whole life lends this first attempt a value of its own. A film to watch for the star more than for the story.

These are not reader reviews: they are short editorial takes written from different viewer perspectives with AI assistance. Reader reviews are below.

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