Le rouge est mis

Le Rouge est Mis, aka Speaking of Murder, is a realistic and colorful gangster film from Gilles Grangier that's well worth a watch. It features Jean Gabin and Lino Ventura, both fine actors, Gabin especially. They were often typecast as underworld figures, with Gabin also enjoying many roles as a cop. And here they are together reprising their typical roles as gangsters, with Gabin the boss, a suave everyman, always in control, and Ventura the trigger-happy tough guy. This is a solid story, very well paced, economical (95 minutes), with colorful dialogue. It's spiced up by a family drama and a romance, thanks to Marcel Bozzuffi and Annie Girardot, both excellent.

The life of novelist Auguste le Breton would make a fascinating film in itself especially his involvement with the French Resistance. His early life however spent in the underworld of Montmartre has given his crime novels an accuracy and authenticity that is only matched by those of Jose Giovanni. The characters that both these authors have portrayed with their particular 'argot' and ambiguous code of honour are a source of endless fascination to film-makers and film goers.

Jean Gabin and Lino Venura had filmed 'Touchez-pas au Grisbi' three years earlier for Jacques Becker. Here they are again in the fourth of twelve films that Gabin made with director Gilles Grangier over a fifteen year period. Gabin's character here is a variation of Max in Becker's film in so far as he is a gentleman crook who gets involved in one heist too many whilst Ventura again plays a trigger-happy thug. Annie Girardot's special talent enables her to rise above a rather thankless role as the girlfriend of Marcel Boffuzzi whose iconic role was in 'The French Connection'. There are indeed a few 'connections' here worth noting. Ventura reached the summit of gangsterism in Giovanni's 'The Second Breath' for Jean-Pierre Melville whilst both he and Gabin came full-circle in le Breton's 'Sicilan Clan' for Henri Verneuil.

Gilles Grangier is certainly no match for either of those directors but the pacing here is good and the performers hold our interest. Louis Page, who worked many times with the great Gabin, contributes his customary razor-sharp cinematography. The last half-hour is gripping and the final scene terrific.

I am an avid film noir watcher but I had never heard of LE ROUGE EST MIS. As it turns out, I am extremely happy that I got to see it because I would include it in my list of top 25 films noir ever, including other French masterpieces like DU RIFIFI CHEZ LES HOMMES, TOUCHEZ PAS LE GRISBI or BOB LE FLAMBEUR, and US counterparts like OUT OF THE PAST, MURDER, MY SWEET, THE KILLERS and GUN CRAZY, to mention just the crème de la crème.

As ever, Gabin provides a solid menacing performance as Louis the Blond. He is the brains in an operation which has a familt restaurant as the façade, but which orchestrates bank and other robberies in the Paris area.

He is ably assisted by the ruthless Lino Ventura and the rather soft Paul Frankeur, who turns out to be one of the weakest links in Gabin's robbery chain. He is not the only one, though.

Gabin's beloved brother, played by Marcel Bozzuffi, has the lovely Annie Girardot as his girlfriend, and he makes the mistake of spilling the beans to her, with serious consequences for the gang.

The luscious, leggy Girardot is visually stunning, but her performance is equally memorable. The sequence in the cab with Gabin, followed by their stroll in the Bois the Boulogne, deserves the highest plaudits.

A special word for the lady who plays Gabin's and Bozzuffi's mother, a delight of discretion. She wonders how Gabin keeps his restaurant afloat, unaware of his criminal exploits. Her love for her sons cannot translate into words, and the sequence where she follows her son to the interrogation room in the precinct, and sees her son flee, is masterly.

First class B&W cinematography, credible script based on a novel by Auguste Le Breton with razor-sharp dialogue, and Director Grangier is in the best form I have seen from him, and I've watched easily some 15 of his films.

Strongly recommended.

In Paris, Louis Bertain (Jean Gabin) is the owner of a legitimate garage business, but secretly is the chief of a gang of thieves composed by the sadistic Pepito (Lino Ventura); the coward Frédo (Paul Frankeur); and Raymond, the sailor (Jean Bérard). Louis is a bon-vivant that lives with his mother Ms. Bertain (Gina Niclos) and his young brother Pierre (Marcel Bozzufi), who is a small-time forger that is on probation. When Pierre visits his girlfriend in Paris, the easy manicurist Hélène (Annie Girardot de la Comédie Française), he breaks his parole and the police tries to force him to become an informer, but Pierre declines the offer. While planning the next rob with Pepito, Louis notes that Pierre has overheard their conversation, but Pierre denies. The robbery goes awry, with two murders, and the police arrest Louis that finds who has denounced them. But Pepito believes Pierre did and is hunting him down.

"Le rouge est mis" (1957), a.k.a. "Speaking of Murder" is a great French gangster movie. The excellent Jean Gabin is perfect as the respected chief of a gang that believes in loyalty and is betrayed by one of his gangsters that the psychopath Pepito had advised that should have been killed since he is a coward man. The plot has a female fatale, Hélène; therefore, it may be considered a neo-noir. The beauty of Annie Girardot is impressive. The pace, the running time and the conclusion are perfect for the story. My vote is seven.

Title (Brazil): "Gângsteres de Paris" ("Gangsters from Paris")

Jean Gabin's front is a garage, where he keeps most of the tools for his gang of armed robbers. Despite the large sums they steal, they can't get ahead; Gabin needs expensive lifts for his garage, his overseas investments fail, button man Lino Ventura's tips on the horses don't pan out, and investments in stocks and commodities..... well, sometimes it seems as if no one is honest but Gabin, who is scrupulous about sharing the take.

He's also got family troubles: his brother, Marcel Bozzuffi, has done time, and on parole can't come into Paris to see his girlfriend, Annie Girardot. He does, anyway, which gets him in further trouble, especially with Gabin, who tells him to cut her off.

It's co-written by Auguste Le Breton from his own novel, about the twisted, confusing, dying world of the apaches, their codes and their failures. It's swiftly directed by Gilles Grangier, whose frequent casting of Gabin kept him working for many years. It's a good raw-meat policier, with an excellent cast.