Le dessous des cartes

Andre Cayatte is known for tackling controversial subjects including euthanasia, plastic surgery and most notably the French judicial system. One is inclined to take for granted what a first rate film maker he is, in terms of his technical proficiency, creativity and his undoubted skill with actors. This is, for him at any rate, a pretty straightforward crime film but as we have come to expect from this director, one in which the characters are morally ambiguous and no one is quite what they seem. The disgraced husband of Florence takes his own life which means that no insurance is payable but in true femme fatale fashion she engages the crooked Inspector Nansen to prove it was murder. The perfect fall guy is Manu, a young smuggler who was the last to see the dead man alive but things become more complicated when Sex rears its ugly head. This is not only an intriguing film but an immensely watchable one. It failed at the box office, not least because of the presence in the cast of Madeleine Sologne, a statuesque blonde whose role in 'L'Eternel Retour' of 1943 had marked her out as a perfect Aryan type and whose career was damaged by her perceived chumminess with the Vichy regime. Her performance as Florence is both stylish and compelling but she was not to appear again on screen alas for another decade. The future looked bleak for Mlle Sologne but for Serge Reggiani who plays Manu, things looked decidedly rosy. His nonchalant and earthy demeanour was unique for the times and very appealing. He worked with Cayatte again on 'Les amants de Verone' but following his iconic role as Felix in 'Le Casque d'or' in 1956 nothing was quite the same. As Manu he has what can only be described as a 'volatile' relationship with Fine, played by his wife at the time Janine Darcey. This explains their palpable chemistry. Paul Meurisse as Nansen is utterly mesmerising but then, when isn't he! Although their despicable scheme fails neither Florence nor Nansen are held to account and he is actually hailed as a brilliant detective. 'Just doing my duty' he modestly avers. Well, this is Cayatte after all!

One more movie and Cayatte would broach his "championing the good causes" long period (from 1950 to the end of his career in the early eighties with few exceptions: "Le Miroir à Deux Faces " Nip and Tuck of the fifties and a Hitchcockesque "Piège Pour Cendrillon" ):child abduction,euthanasia,miscarriages of justice,death penalty,corrupt judges,even eye for an eye ,tooth for a tooth ("Oeil pour Oeil" was one of his titles.

His fin de decade movies predate the long series which began with "Justice est Faite" in 1950;Old melodrama "Roger la Honte" was nothing but a miscarriage of justice;and "Les Amants de Verone" ,which is considered his best film ,featured a "trial" and a judge who kept in a box all the last cigarette butts of the people he had sentenced to death.

Like in "Les Amants de Verone" ,the star is Serge Reggiani.Although it is primarily a detective story ,with a trick (the ice) Agatha Christie would not disown,there are elements which predate the impending "justice for all" era : the corrupt cop who is not afraid to have an innocent arrested ,hints at "relations with some politicians " which the dead crook would have had.All that takes a back seat to the thriller side though.Madeleine Sologne and her lover Paul Meurisse are eager to get the money of her late husband's life insurance;alas it does not work if it's a suicide .So it can be a murder provided there is a culprit.

This is a good movie but the story is too much predictable. PAUL meurisse is as always excellent and serge reggiani good If you like french movies from the fifties, you will appreciate that one if you don't, go to see another one