Fric-Frac

This is Lehman's only claim to fame,although he was helped by Claude Autant-Lara who was to become one of the most important directors of the years to come("Douce","le diable au corps").It's not much of a plot (a fric frac=break-in),but the fabulous threesome make it a winner.Michel Simon plays a gentle thug,so lazy his nickname is "Jo with the arms cut".Arletty is Loulou ,a whore who teaches slang to the respectable Marcel ,a clerk in a jeweller's shop ,object of his two "friends' " desire.A lot of fun is guaranteed for all!

Fernandel is a jeweler, working for Marcel Vallée. Hélène Robert, the boss's uptight daughter, is sweet on him, but when Fernandel meets Michel Simon and Arletty at the bicycle races, he falls for the latter. Because he is an innocent, he doesn't realize they're crooks, and Arletty's boyfriend is away for six months, in prison, so Fernandel imagines he's in with a chance.

With a cast like that, you expect something great, and that's what you get. Arletty is a hard case, Simon is a lazy drunkard, and Fernandel finds himself in over his head. There are some lovely scenes like Simon running three-card Monte with Arletty as his shill, and the scene where the two men drunkenly bond is hilarious.