Le dernier sou

"Le dernier sou" was completed in 1943 but not shown until 1946. Continental Films, who produced it, although French by name was in fact in all intends and purposes a German production firm. When Paris was liberated in 1944, all productions from Continental Films were confiscated, and "Le dernier sou", was shelved for several years. It was eventually released on January 23 1946 but was only ran for a week. It was not until 1982 that the Cinémathèque du Palais de Chaillot in Paris showed this gem of a film. Those lucky enough to have seen it discovered it was a very good film (scripted by Louis Chavance who also wrote 'Corbeau, Le (1943)') remarkably served by very talented actors.

Writer Reign shows one more time his insightful knowledge of the old French cinema when he hints at Ginette Leclerc and "Le Corbeau".In fact,both these works were very risqué,osé,taking cynicism to new limits.Noel Roquevert ,cast against type,portrays a wicked unscrupulous swindler,far from his usual good-natured characters .Matching him every step of the way is Leclerc's bitch-with-a-sentimental-side :take the scene where she tells Charpin (and later another dupe) that his father is terminally ill;she is so convincing we almost believe her.On the other hand,Stefani is one of the most frightening villains of the French cinema;he is all the more disturbing as his face is very familiar (and rather nice ) to the French audience.His organization is a Mafia in miniature:all his collaborators are actually his victims for "he knows so many bad things about them he could send them all to jail whenever he wants to(and he does actually ;he pretends to help the unfortunate Baron and he hands him over to justice,so to speak.

The ending is one of the most inventive of the cinema of the era and is still impressive today.It compares favorably to Kazan's "a face in the crowd" .All these radios which were part of the swindles backfire against the Master.

It belongs to the first era of Cayatte's career but it is really unique for it does not look like -with the eventual exception of his remarkable sketch in "Retour A la Vie"- the other ones,which are literary adaptations.

At last, Gaumont has released a restored print of this not too much known Cayatte kind of film noir, with a tense sequence in the end with Gilbert Gil seeking for revenge. No need to say, Noël Roquevert as the thief crook is simply fabulous, with no fear of police or justice. And Ginette Leclerc is again unforgettable, she cannot chose her side. Cayatte had a great cinematographic writing in film noir, his masterpiece in this genre being "Piège de Cendrillon", now available on Gaumont dvd.