La dame dans l'auto avec des lunettes et un fusil

This is okay and Samantha Eggar very good but is just not sinister enough. My print was not a very good one which didn't help but I didn't feel particularly engaged early on and although for me it brightened up when John McEnry comes in, his character is too enigmatic to seriously help one's involvement in trying to work out just what the story is. The final denouement and cumbersome and involved flashback details as outlined by Oliver Reed did not annoy me as it has some (I've watched many a giallo where the 'explanation' is more ludicrous than the earlier tale) indeed it struck me as more interesting. There just wasn't enough actually happening in the bulk of the film for one to get one's teeth into. I suppose in some giallo these gaps would be filled with rising bosoms and falling dresses but here alas were left with the best of efforts by Ms Eggar, not particularly well dressed at all.

Samantha Eggar goes to employer Oliver Reed's home to do some work before he flies off with his wife, Stephane Audran, for a vacation. She drops the couple off at the airport, with instructions to drive the big Mercury convertible back to the office. But she has never handled a car like this, and takes a wrong turn. She finds herself traveling south, and decides to travel down to the Cote D'Azur. But odd things keep happening, like John McEnery, who plops himself into her car and charms her into sleeping with her, all the people who insist that she's been been there the day before, traveling to Paris. When a corpse turns up suddenly in the trunk with a rifle, things shift from bizarre to deadly.

Anatole Litvak's last movie is a stylish thriller, well served by the cast and with lots of shots to show off the scenery thanks to DP Claude Renoir. The long monologue that explains what was going on is, I suppose, a necessity, if a trifle long-winded. It's a good ending to a long career for Litvak, who studied theater in his native Ukraine ad Russia, made films in Germany, France, and America, and died in 1974 at the age of 72.

Contrary to what some said here earlier, the novels by Sebastien Japrisot are gripping and full of atmosphere. There is no way that Dany Lang's trip to Marseille can be transferred to the States. If you didn't like the movie too much - like me - try to get a copy of the book, so you can enjoy the story fully. Japrisot's novels are usually characterized by a carefully constructed claustrophobic atmosphere and a precise resolution of all the details at the end. It may well be impossible to do them justice in movies that are less than four hours long.

Unrealistic? Probably, but I don't read a novel or watch a movie for a reality check - the News give me too much of that already. A difficult read it is, but so rewarding. By the same author: One Deadly Summer, Trap for Cinderella, The Sleeping Car Murders. To me, the Lady in the Car was the best.

The film could be described as 40% Alfred Hitchcock and 60% Raymond Chandler. It initially starts out as a very glossy chick-flick with our heroine Danielle Lang (Samantha Eggar) working as a PA in a chic Paris advertising agency for her dashing boss Oliver Reed. The Christian Dior dresses perfectly capture the glamour of very late 1960s Paris. I would have been happy enough with just that, but it gets darker and better as the movie progresses. Although Mademoiselle Lang plays the confused and helpless heroine for most (but not all) of the film, it does pass the Bechdel test. Samantha Eggars performance is first rate, but I have to say I think Stéphane Audran steals the show as Samantha Eggars former flatmate. However, as a long time Stéphane Audran fan I may be biased, and in fact that was the main reason I watched the film in the first place. Most of the supporting cast is very good also.

Where the film goes wrong is that it spends far too long on the 'mystery' aspect of the plot and when the 'reveal' happens it is too rushed. I think this may simply be bad editing since there are many many scenes in the 'reveal' sequence which are cut together in the space of a few minutes. Maybe if they'd been stretched out over 30 minutes it would have made everything feel more balanced. Particularly as the 'mystery' segment starts to drag toward the end.

It didn't help that I saw a really poor print of this. I would love to see the original, I'll bet the colours look sumptuous.

Petula Clark's song fits like a nut in the wall, but what's more, the movie is missed from head to tail. I had great expectations from Samantha Eggar and Oliver Reed, two actors which I love very much. Both they try their best but the result is bad. Stéphane Audran is OK, as usual, in the role of wicked woman. I also had great expectations from Anatole Litvak, who made some very good movies like "The Night of the Generals" and "Goodbye Again". But this screening after Sébastien Japrisot it's a great disappointment. 3 stars, one for Eggar, one for Reed and one for Audran.