Gibier de potence

Ten years earlier Roger Richebe directed what is undoubtedly the finest version of Sardou's 'Madame Sans-Gene' starring the incomparable Arletty in the title role.

Here, for the same director, she plays Madame Alice whose relationship with the young Marceau of Georges Marchal is surely one of the strangest, ambiguous and most disturbing in the history of film whilst the subject matter is more than somewhat daring for the time. When she meets him he is down-and-out but she quickly recognises that his good looks and athletic physique mark him out as an ideal 'escort' for wealthy women 'd'un certain age'. This doesn't work out too well to say the least! War intervenes and upon his return their 'friendship' continues. He meets the lovely Dominique of Nicole Courcel and when he tells Alice of his intention to marry she turns on him with the utmost venom.......... The best scenes of course are between Marchal and Arletty. He is a hunk who can also act as is proved in his films for Bunuel and she brings her own particular magic and air of mystery to every part she plays. Their final confrontation is as powerful as it is unexpected and wonderfully done. Courcel is deeply touching as the woman who offers him a chance of happiness. Philippe Agostini is behind the camera and there is an excellent score by Henri Verdun. I can only add my voice to those of previous reviewers who have lamented Richebé's undeserved neglect.

Unlike his former colleagues,Roger Richebé was slagged off,not by the young Turks of the Nouvelle Vague ,but by one of the greatest writers of the Old Wave :Henri Jeanson.Everybody thought that he was right and now nobody wants to see Richebé's movies.And however...

I saw a handful of his movies and I was never disappointed:at least five of them would deserve to be watched: "Madame Sans-Gene " ,"Les Amants de Minuit" ,"Monseigneur","l'habit vert"...

....and "Gibier De Potence" (=Gallows Bird) !This film proves that Richebé's bad reputation is totally unfair.This is a great work,extremely daring for the time!

A soldier,Marceau, comes back from WW2.An old man tells him "There were not many dead soldiers in this war,were there?".A line which would not be out of place in Wyler's "Best years of our lives". He remembers ....(Long flashback) he was an orphan and was raised by priests ...No childhood ...When he left the orphanage ,he was short of the readies.Then he met Madame Alice:she made him a model for pornographic photographs disguised as "art" and a gigolo for lonely aging women..That's the main originality of the movie.What happens to the hero is what happened generally to girls at that time."White male slave trade" he says.

But there's more to the picture than meets the eye:Madame Alice,played by fabulous Arletty ,is a spellbinding mysterious woman.The audience expects her to sleep with her protégé but nothing happens.The relationship is very uneasy,certainly perverse and leaves the viewer ill-at-ease."Who are you? Marceau asks.you are not feminine,you do not wear any jewels.Are you.....? Terse answer :"No,I do not like women either".A revelation tells us that something happened in Madame Alice's childhood too.Georges Marchal (who was good friend with Luis Bunuel who gave him his two best parts "La Mort en Ce Jardin" and "Cela S'Appelle l'Aurore" ) portrays this unfortunate hunk with great conviction.

He's caught in a cobweb ,and Madame Alice makes me think of a Black Widow.After the war, he tries to pick up the pieces and to start a "pure" brand new life but she is not prepared to accept it which is all the more disturbing as there is no sex at all between them.When he meets a pure young girl (Nicole Courcel),both of them swim in the nude in the pool (which was quite unusual in 1951 in the French cinema).It's like a new "christening " for him.

Marceau's longing for purity finds its roots in his friendship with one of his pals in the orphanage .When he leaves him -the poor lad who wants to become a priest soon dies from TB- he warns Marceau:"stay true to yourself,stay pure".Priests play a prominent part:Marceau comes back to his orphanage and he is so hungry he wants to take a piece of bread ,but he is too proud to do that in front of the man who was some kind of father to him.Later,in the strange mansion where the plot is resolved,he meets another priest (who 's afraid of dying: "and however",Marceau says" you are a believer")with whom he strikes up a bizarre relationship.

Two famous French critics Jean Tulard and Jacques Lourcelles have recently praised "Gibier de Potence" .

What an unexpectedly good surprise! Among the few tens of movies I've seen these last months, this is is certainly the one to be fondly remembered.

About Roger Richebé I knew only the part he played as a producer, and the poor game of word Henri Jeanson had on his name "Richebé? Pauvre c.., oui" (those enough fluent in French will understand).

So, I went to this one only to have some black and white French speaking ante-Nouvelle vague feast, for Georges Marchal sake, and my own Arletty's re-evaluation, too.

And then… Everything is surprisingly good (for the very least), there.

The pace, first, very fast, very elliptic but never confusing, if you admit that the film is going to treat some adult stuff, and accept to be puzzled from time to time, like in real life encounters.

The narration, never heavy or scholarly explanatory. Besides, there are some very rare situations, in "little" and "big" moments, all along the film. The slap in the face to shut the mouth of the annoying lover is one of those.

The cinematography, very attractive (though the copy I saw was poorly preserved). There are some moments of pure virtuosity, for instance when Marceau has his first glance at the young woman he is going to fall for… and then falls, I mean, dives in the pool to reach her.

The actors are good, very very good. Some of them deliver a run-of-the-mill performance, but since their standards are high and they are very experienced theater comedians, it works perfectly well. I'm thinking about Simone Paris et Mona Goya, two of Guitry's middle cinema career regulars.

Among them, the great good surprise was coming to me from Arletty. She inhabits her very unconventional part with a perfect mastery.

And Georges Marchal has it all. Handsome, sexy, physical, tormented, spontaneous, "male chauvinist", desperate, convincing all along, even in the only hammy lines of the movie, delivered in the first five minutes.

Last but not least, the topics discussed there. Well… Well, have a watch by yourself, you'll be in awe. (I spent half of the movie mouth open!) Everything is good, fresh, adult, surprising, puzzling in there. And don't believe it's Allégret's-like stuff, the typical pessimistic late 40's early 50's lazy noir. Here, even the ending, open enough, will surprise you, in its last twist.

(Didier_Fort at hotmail.com)