Mauvaise graine

Henri Pasquier is the prodigal and profligate son. Daddy Warbucks takes away his car so the kid goes rogue. Steals a car and before long we're treated to an excellent car chase through the streets of Paris. Remember, this is 35 years before Bullitt and French Connection. Hollywood movies at the time barely left the studio.

Henri soon finds out the car-theft business is an organized racket. Luckily for him, they're hiring.

The plot then really gets going, with beautiful women distracting wealthy car owners from daring daylight car thefts on the streets of Paris. The head of the international car-theft ring is devious and charming in his own way. We get a plethora of interesting side characters. And a gorgeous love interest for Henri.

Complications arise when Henri goes to bat for better wages for the crew, so the boss cooks up a scheme to get rid of him.

Now I'm supposed to note that Bad Seed is Billy Wilder's directorial debut. He was temporarily in France after fleeing Natsy Germany. While the exterior scenes are very well done, the interior scenes are, at times, pretty stiff. Maybe that was the work of co-director Alex Esway.

Luckily, Wilder co-wrote the screenplay. The plot works on every level. The characters are believable, gritty, and lively. The setting is second-to-none.

This film was actually co-directed by Wilder and a Hungarian named Alexander Esway, who I'm not familiar with. Having seen only five films by Wilder at this point, I can't offer a great deal of input into how this film relates to the rest of his body of work, but there are a few things worth mentioning here.

First off, it's well known that Wilder was a massive admirer of Ernst Lubitsch, the great German film director who came to America in 1923 and forever transformed Hollywood cinema, bringing to it his European sensibilities, sophistication, and sexual innuendo. Wilder, an Austrian by birth, also would leave Germany and come to America, although both his trip and the reasons for it were quite different than Lubitsch's, who left Germany by choice, not necessity.

Wilder had been a successful screenwriter in Germany from 1929 through 1933, when, aware of his Jewish ancestry, he fled the country upon Hitler's rise to power. He went to France, and shortly after came to America, where he broke into Hollywood, first as a screenwriter, then later as a highly successful director.

While he was in France, before arriving in America, he co-directed this film, "Mauvaise graine" ("Bad Seed"), in 1934. The first thing that struck me was that the film was very much in the vein of other French comedy-dramas from its time (for example, I was immediately reminded of "Under the Roofs of Paris" by René Clair, and, to a lesser extent, "Boudu Saved From Drowning" by Renoir and "L'atalante" by Vigo). Despite the fact that the two significant portions of Wilder's career were in Germany and America, this film feels neither German nor American. It sounds like Wilder was only in France for about a year, maybe less, yet he managed to perfectly imitate the style, aesthetic, and overall feel of other, similar French films of the time. I considered the possibility that this was more a result of Esway's influence than Wilder's, but even Esway, I believe, had only made one French film before this. So, either the general style and feel of French cinema permeated his film largely without his knowledge or intent, or Wilder was simply born gifted in absorbing and regurgitating the milieu and aesthetic of his environment. I lean toward the latter, though I'm sure both are true, to some extent.

The second thing that struck me was that, already, at such an early point in Wilder's career as a filmmaker, Lubitsch's influence was evident. Peter Bogdanovich, in discussing Lubitsch's "Trouble in Paradise", made the observation that, while the film's protagonists were obviously thieves, Lubitsch made a point to never show them in the act of thievery. As Bogdanovich said, "Lubitsch was much too sophisticated for that." Lubitsch being the master of innuendo and implication that he was, everything in his films was, strictly speaking, implicit, even when he often left no doubt as to what he intended to convey. Of course, censorship plays its role in such things, but there's no doubt that this method perfectly reflected Lubitsch's unique sensibility as a director, and Wilder had clearly taken notes. Early in the film, when our protagonist first steals a car, he is shown standing nearby it, looking it over, and then after a cutaway to some gangsters watching him, the next thing we see is him driving away in the presumably stolen car. It was not smoothly executed, and lacked that notorious sophistication that Bogdanovich referred to in Lubitsch's films, but the important thing, in an early work such as this, is to take note of the influence. And Wilder was clearly heavily influenced by Lubitsch, even in '34. (Note, also, the way the main character models much of his demeanor after Maurice Chevalier, a frequent star of Lubitsch's films in the early '30s, and even does an impression of him early in the film.)

Another thing I found interesting watching this film was the recurring theme of the youth's reluctance to work, to live by the 9-to-5 and sustain any kind of "respectable" job. The film even seemed to sympathize with this attitude, although I'm ambivalent as to whether or not the screenwriters (Wilder and three others) were really supporting this mentality, or simply acknowledging it as a reality for many youths of the day. In either case, there was certainly nothing condemnatory about their depiction of these kids. These are about the most innocuous car thieves you could ever conceive of.

"Mauvaise graine" stars Danielle Darrieux as the female lead, who I recently saw in Anatole Litvak's 1936 film "Mayerling". She's a quality actress. The film is also notable for having Franz Waxman as one of two musicians working on the film's score. Waxman later went on to score films for directors such as, to name a few, Alfred Hitchcock, Sam Fuller, Lewis Milestone, Victor Fleming, George Cukor, and many of Wilder's later films.

This is by no means a great film. I really can't even say that it's a truly good film. But it's very decent, and worth the watch for anyone who's interested either in Wilder himself or in French cinema from this time period. The film is generally lighthearted, slightly poignant, and on the whole solidly executed. It lacks thematic substance and narrative impact, but given that its main interest is as a curio for Wilder fans (or as a necessity for Wilder completists), it ended up being somewhat superior to my expectations. I don't suspect anyone will write home over this one, and yet, I can't imagine many will consider it a waste of time either. For a debut feature, I'm fairly impressed. Especially considering the very early work of other great Hollywood filmmakers like Kubrick or Coppola, "Mauvaise graine" is a respectable piece of cinema, and an entry into Wilder's filmography that should not be tossed aside lightly, or at all.

RATING: 5.33 out of 10 stars

When you watch this film ("Bad Seed"), you need to cut it a little slack. After all, the film lacks the polish you'd see in films from Hollywood from this same time period--mostly because French films weren't all that polished! The sound wasn't all that sophisticated and the camera-work left a bit to be desired--but the scripts were often quite clever. In fact, the French made some wonderful films in the 1930s--such as "Le Million", "Le Femme du Boulanger" and "Drôle de Drame ou L'étrange Aventure du Docteur Molyneux"--some of the best films ever, in fact. So don't let the look of "Mauvaise Graine" discourage you--despite being a bit rough, it's an amazingly clever film.

The film begins with an incredibly worthless young man (Henri) driving about town--enjoying the fruits of his father's labor. He is obviously very spoiled and is tough to like. When the father has finally had enough, he sells his son's beloved car and tells him to get a job! Way to go Dad! But Henri IS a jerk, so he follows the men who bought the car--and on impulse, steals it from them! This leads Henri in a direction he certainly never intended, as a real honest-to-goodness gang of car thieves spots him and decides to offer him a job! Where all this goes next, see for yourself.

The film has some definite comedic aspects, such as the one guy in the gang who is always bringing in the most bizarre cars (and buses). But the film isn't necessarily a comedy. It also has elements of romance and even drama--all of which work together well to create a film like you've probably never seen before! This originality of the script is what I really admired--even if the film does seem to glamorize evil...a bit!

A few final notes. First, this is the first film directed by Billy Wilder (he actually co-directed) and soon after this he came to America and became one of the top directors in history. Despite not being among the very, very famous names today, his string of film credits is tough to beat and the only director I can think of that had even more hits during his time was William Wyler. Even the ultra-famous Hitchcock would have probably killed to have achieved the success Wilder achieved during his very long and distinguished career. You don't see the best direction in "Mauvaise Graine"--but you have to start somewhere! Second, perhaps it's just me, but I sure felt strong gay vibes from the necktie lover towards Henri--perhaps it wasn't intended. Third, the way the film ended sure was different and I can't see Hollywood doing it this way....and I like that about the film.

Well worth seeing and a lot of fun.

After his father sells his car, Henri "borrows" a stranger's car in order to make a date with a young woman. This act sees him fall foul of a gang of car thieves but after some discussion he joins their gang. Things seem to be going well but he and the boss don't see eye to eye.

Interesting enough French crime-drama. Plot is pretty basic but it is fairly engaging as we follow Henri's adventures and change from law abiding citizen to criminal. One or two good comedic moments too.

The most interesting aspect of this film is that it was Billy Wilder's directorial debut, having received a writing credit for 22 previous films. He would have to wait another eight years for his second, and his first Hollywood film, The Major and the Minor. This was also a fairly unspectacular affair. His third film, Five Graves to Cairo, was better but still didn't give an indication of the masterpieces that were to come. However, his fourth, Double Indemnity (1944) was brilliant and from then on he never looked back.

Cocky son of a doctor Henry (Pierre Mingand), a frankly wreckless driver, has the keys to his father's car taken away from him. Even with his Maurice Chevalier impression he is unlikely to be able to impress the girls by bus. He is tempted to steal a car in order to fulfil a date, is hijacked by a real car-stealing gang and throws in his lot with them. And so we find ourselves in what I think is called a Straßenfilm - Henry rejects his comfortable background for Paris's streets of crime.

The gang at work are entertaining, with cravate cleptomaniac Jean, and le Zèbre who keeps turning up with a string of old bangers. It's good to see a black actor (Gaby Héritier) shown as part of the city's makeup, and Michel Duran is excellent as the gang's wily boss.

In this film Danielle Darrieux (still only sixteen or seventeen) escapes her role as the ballroom-frequenting daughter of the aristocracy. She is funny as the gang's honey-trap and hilarious as the sullen secretary.

There are clunky but exciting night-time chase scenes through French villages as the plot moves into something more like a road-trip movie, and there's a noticeable change in mood as Darrieux and Mingand find themselves walking down the mountain road. Here, for a while, you get the feeling of two real people talking to each other and just the hint of a different movie again.

Certainly it's an uneven sort of film in tone but still a good watch and of interest to fans of Darrieux and of Wilder.