Director Roger Pigaut was once one of the most famous romantic male leads of the French forties : "douce" (Autant-Lara) is a masterpiece ,and Christian Jaque's "sortilèges" and Becker's "Antoine et Antoinette " are not far behind .
As a silver screen actor, his career was on the wane in the sixties and he became a director :his first effort "le cerf-volant du bout du monde" was aimed at the children's market ,and his third one "compte à rebours " a thriller which featured creme de la creme of French actors : Jeanne Moreau ,Simone Signoret,Serge Reggiani, Michel Bouquet,Marcel Bozzuffi and Amidou; the male actors are featured again in "trois milliards sans ascenseurs ", but the atmosphere is downright different .Whereas "comptes à rebours" was dramatic, this one is a spoof on thrillers which involve jewels thefts .
Most of the actors are middle-age ,and even the old generation is present ,represented by glorious Françoise Rosay in one of her last parts.The lines are often witty, and one feels the rapport ,the camaraderie they have between us ; this is ,should we believe the screenwriters ,the new age of robbery :scientific plans to thwart the high electronic technology supposed to protect the precious stones .The first "attempt" is a good idea,which creates an unexpected twist and ,not to let the cat out of the bag,I 'm not going to write more.
