Bifur 3

Maurice Cam made two interesting movies before the war : "On demande un ménage " , a riotously funny comedy in the grand tradition of "fanfare d'amour" and its masterful remake "some like it hot" ,featuring men disguised as women and this one ,which depicts the world of truck drivers .

The plot of this woman who escapes from her brutal husband's house to go to the chic world of Marseille is insignificant and conventional ;the main riddle is: why does the hero fall for the bland (and obscure actress) Ariane Borg when he has future sex-symbol Martine Carol at home?

The long chase between the truck and the car is some kind of Spielberg's "duel " in miniature ,if one reverses the roles.

René Dary ,who began his career as a child actor in the silent age in Louis Feuillade 's works ,was anything but a handsome man : but this part of a truck driver fits him like a glove .All that concerns the truck drivers ' camaraderie, joie de vivre and solidarity rings true.The final "trial " ,more than the "duel" , climaxes the movie when one sees these hard-working people all stand together and kick out the stool pigeon.And the word "bifur(cation) has two meanings: two roads for the truck ,and two ways to live his life for the hero .

Bifur 3 is certainly not a masterpiece, but it's worth a look for two reasons.

I've always loved french truck drivers movies, remember Gas-Oil and Des Gens Sans Importance with Jean Gabin. Well, before Jean Gabin, there was René Davy in Bifur 3, with also Aimos, Robert Le Vigan and Martine Carole. Truck drivers moody proletarian atmosphere with very popular actors, that's a must see, except it's quite hard to find. The director Maurice Cam was from Marseille and Bifur 3 is shot around Marseille.

Very strange opposite destinies for Aimos, Robert Le Vigan and Martine Carol. Bifur 3 is one of the first movie for Martine Carol but a few years later, she would attempt suicide. And Bifur 3 is the very last movie of Aimos, killed during the Liberation of Paris. And it is also the last french movie for the genius Robert Le Vigan, who played just before in a movie called l'Homme Qui Vendit Son Ame. Aimos and Le Vigan, two very opposite directions during WWII, the titi parisien and the poet ...

I mustn't forget René Dary who would play the next year a terrific and dynamic Nestor Burma in 120, rue de la Gare. What a creative period, old is gold.