120, rue de la Gare

An Arsene Lupinesque movie,from Léo Malet,whose hero ,Nestor "Dynamite " Burma was portrayed by the late Michel Serrault in the eighties.

An entertaining thriller,with a dynamic lead ,René Dary ,the former Louis Feuillade's protégé ("Bout d'Zan" ).However Nestor Burma is not as suave ,as charming,as gallant and as nice as Arsene Lupin.He is a macho smug man .But the story is interesting: built around a conspiracy about an heritage ,full of riddles ("my dad wrote me I had to remember my childhood to discover the place').A mortal place ,for ,everytime you utter these words "120,Rue de LA Gare" you stand in great danger of being shot down.

Like this?Try these...

"Les cinq gentlemen maudits" Julien Duvivier 1932

"Six Hommes Morts" Georges Lacombe 1939

"Pièges" Robert Siodmak 1939

I'm talking of the private eye Nestor Burma, played by René Dary, who shows muscles, nerves and brains.

In the immediate post-war, French attendances were thirsty for detective stories and thrillers Hollywood-like. This one, directed by Jacques Daniel-Norman and based on a Léo Malet's novel, was trying to fill the gap. Sophie Desmarets is in it, funny and gorgeous. And her performance must have made its mark on writer Léo Malet's mind, since he never missed an opportunity to give homage to her in his following novels.

In what was probably meant as 'American style', the editing is quite frantic, and if talkative, the movie is at the same time packed with action. It blends fun, violence, dark moments and light romance.

I can't see why the movie is so poorly noted on IMDb. Is it that viewers didn't approve this Burma version? But Dary was no less Nestor Burma than were Michel Serrault or even Guy Marchand in the French TV series. And the movie, after all, had the approbation of Léo Malet.

Really, if you have the opportunity, give its chance to this rarity, you won't regret it.

(Didier_fort@hotmail.com)