Luis Saslavsky was an "influential Argentinian screenwriter, director and producer, as well as novelist and film critic who worked in France during the 1950's."
He made four movies here ;the best is probably "La Neige Etait Sale" which was his star Daniel Gelin's favorite movie;"Les Louves " was a fine Boileau/Narcejac adaptation which should appeal to "Les Diaboliques" fans ;"Premier Mai" is a pleasant comedy.
Sadly,his last French effort,this movie,is the least convincing.Marred by a mediocre script ,an obsolete story which could have been filmed before WW2,as a failed attempt at "Realisme Poetique".
A man (Maurice Ronet ,just before his sensational breakthrough in "Plein Soleil "-"purple noon-)falls in love with a hot girl (Belinda Lee) with a racy past ;because she's afraid he might treat her like a former prostitute ,she marries his friend, a dreamer who makes machines to extract pearls from mussels.But the rejected lover cannot get over the loss of this " desired body".He 's so blind he cannot see the love another girl,Marinette (Dany Carrel) ,feels for him.
It takes place on a mussel bed ,by the ocean, where Lee's statuesque beauty creates a sensation among the workers.
Generally well acted,mainly by Gelin with his hangdog look ,the story is clumsy and full of plot holes (the pimp has one scene and that's it)and of implausibilities (the ending).
