But in France, they have "Rififi." This classic 1955 noir follows a group of men who pull off the perfect crime, only to find that the human element gets in the way. All of the great Hollywood heist movies, from "Mission: Impossible" to "Heat," have taken an element or two from this masterpiece.

The movie also stands alone in the genre for its boldness. There's the heist scene that spans 30 minutes, in which not one word is uttered. And then (warning: spoiler!) there's the bizarre conclusion, in which our (anti)hero races around Paris mortally wounded while the child he saved in the seat next to him joyfully fools around with his toy gun.