Les amants du tage

I saw "Les Amants du Tage" (though I could have sworn it was then "Port Something") sometime in the mid-1950s at one of the fleabag theatres on West 42nd Street in NYC. It was the lesser half of a double-bill with "The Light Across the Street," which introduced Brigitte Bardot (to me, at least) and which in my recollection was notable for nothing else.

In the mid-1950s I wasn't yet conditioned to accept as a hero a guy who in his opening scene blows two people away. By his closing scene, though, I was rooting for him and his girl and hoping they would somehow win out over the implacable force of destiny.

Very gripping little movie, deserving to be seen.

I had wanted to see this film for some time, because it comes in the middle of the most productive part of Trevor Howard's career. It intrigued me as it was the only non-English language film he made while he was still in his prime. I had pretty much given up on ever seeing it, thinking it too obscure for DVD release. And then out of the blue it was released in France in spring 2008.

It is definitely worth seeing if a) you like any of the three stars, who all give good performances; b) you like films (French or otherwise) from the 1950s - this film is very much a product of its time; c) you are interested in tracing the career of the director, Henri Verneuil, best known in the English-speaking world for The Sicilian Clan (1968) with Gabin and Delon.

As I said above, I watched the film because I wanted to see what Trevor Howard was like in it. He is undoubtedly very good, even if he seems to struggle with the French dialogue on occasion. But he has a couple of very effective scenes, and the film is an under-appreciated but nonetheless important one in the development of his career.

The other stars, Daniel Gelin and Francoise Arnoul, are good too. The same cannot quite be said of Verneuil's direction, which oscillates between the effective and the overly static. There are a few too many long dialogue-driven sequences - partly the fault of Joseph Kessel's somewhat wordy script, taken from his own novel - that are unimaginatively filmed. I wonder what would have happened if a director like Becker or Clouzot had been in charge? But both the direction and the film itself really come alive in the sequences filmed outside on location in Lisbon. Not only do cast and crew seem to have been enlivened by the location shooting - a scene on a river boat, for example, is beautifully shot and acted - but the viewer also gets a pretty vivid picture of what Lisbon in the 1950s was like. The outdoor scenes are exceptionally vivid, and although there are a few too many stops for for the camera to take in "local colour" (a key facet of so many films of the period, offering the contemporary viewer a travelogue-style experience) nonetheless the location work in and of itself makes the film worth viewing.

The final points of interest are a fairly frank (for the time) depiction of sexuality, and the faint echoes of "doomed lover" romances so important in French cinema of the late 1930s. The film can be seen as a cousin of earlier films like Quai des Brumes and Hotel Du Nord.

I think that overall, if the direction and writing had been more dynamic, this would be regarded as a minor classic, and would not have languished in the relative obscurity it has done. But the actors deserve plaudits, as does the camera-work of Roger Hubert. It is also pleasing to note that Mme. Arnoul was still working as recently as 2007.

I was fortunate to get a DVD copy of this film and was not disappointed. It's one of those film noirs, in this case French, where the protagonist is in a different country that his country of origin and has to not only deal with the intrigues of the femme fatale but in a culture and customs foreign to his own; Think Robert Mitchum in Acapulco in OUT OF THE PAST or Joseph Cotten in Vienna in THE THIRD MAN. And like those films, this one has the beautiful backdrop of Lisbon in the 1950's. I've been to Lisbon and this film show cases it better than any I've seen incorporation the rhythms and the music of the city.

The story has been presented by other reviewers so I'll not touch on it but film draws you into a romance doomed from the start and with a final denouncement as strong as OOTP and TTM. Highly recommended.

The beginning of the film ,after a rather ludicrous prologue ,is rather dull.The director ,Henri Verneuil,who is naturally despised (often unfairly) by the "true" connoisseurs of the French cinema (that is to say the N.V. buffs)seems more interested in filming the beautiful landscapes of Portugal and Lisbon or Amalia Rodriguez's Fado.

Actually,the movie grows on you;it is based on a novel by Joseph Kessel ,but it recalls Georges Simenon's psychological suspense.The tortoise pace of the first third is necessary to introduce the three characters : the man (Daniel Gélin)committed a crime of passion ;the woman (Françoise Arnoul) may or may not be responsible for the death of her husband ,killed in a car crash;the private eye (Trevor Howard ,whose French was absolutely perfect:hats off!)plays cat and mouse with both of them: he was hired by the lady's wealthy family-in -law to find pieces of evidence which would prove she's a murderess.His method,which predates that of Colombo is very subtle.

All in all,this is another good movie by Henri Verneuil,the ending of which is not unlike that of "Pepe Le Moko" ,a standard reference work.

NB:Jacques Moulière ,who portrays the little boy,became a pop singer in the sixties (as Jacky Moulière) but his career was never really successful.

I was so impressed with the movie that I went to see it half a dozen times more. The two songs of Amalia Rodriguez (Barco Negro & Solidao) stayed in my memory for many, many years. I promised to myself that one day I will go and visit this country that produced such unusual and captivating music. It took me 18 years to finally cross Portugal's border - and I stayed for 41 years - until now, 2015! Even though it ends in a sort-of suspense, the statement of her move contains proof of love in a surrender...which could not be taken back. The three main actors were good, especially the fado-singing lady which impressed me with/through the strength of her performance. I deem the movie a classic and I would like to see it again - before I die...and I'll be 83 come 10th of July! Were it not for the brutal beginning, I'd give the movie an 'Excellent' vote.