His sophomore effort , "Le Bluffer" is a muddled story,so complicated it's very hard to catch up with .It set a pattern for the routine thrillers which would follow: "maldone" "un beau monstre" the hateful "le galets d'Etretat " (a self-indulgent scene of rape) ,"les voraces" "les intrus".....Too many good actors (Robert Hossein,Charles Aznavour,Virna Lisi, Helmut Berger ...) got lost in those two-bit ,sometimes obnoxious flicks.
The principal, Paul Guers who was promising in the late sixties ("Marie -Octobre ",directed by Julien Duvivier, the difficult part of Brick in the French version of Tennessee Williams' cat on a hot tin roof " opposite Jeanne Moreau on stage),was not lucky in the sixties movies (a supporting part in Demy's "La Baie Des Anges " with Moreau again ,and that's it) ;thus ,he essentially worked on stage and on TV ,but,in spite of his good looks (he resembled Louis Jourdan) ,never became a known actor,let alone a star.
In this indescribable mess ,with enough plot holes to fill the Albert Hall,only the cast may hold your attention : Roland Lesaffre, Marcel Carné's post -war favorite actor ,is well cast as the good friend who wants to help "the bluffer" ,just out of jail,to start a brand new life on the Riviera .Felix Marten, a former Edith Piaf's protégé ,gives a deadpan performance,Paul Meurisse style, is cast as "Milord" (a nod to Piaf's song,) ,and provides the so-so score.Dany Carrel serves as a decorative nurse.
An absurd ending for a mess of a movie.
