Jacques Pinoteau,Claude Pinoteau's brother,was a French coarse comedy vintage 1955-1965 specialist ,and as Jean Tulard wrote :" you have to force yourself to laugh".
At the beginning of his film,the director issues a warning:the work you are about to see has a cultural purpose and avoids the clichés,blah blah,blah, as the picture shows scantily dressed sexy Mireille Darc.
Plot :A playwright attends his last effort's premiere ,then returns to his desirable mansion to enjoy a well-deserved rest;alas ,no sooner had he reached the door than the chimney fell on him.
The writer discovers that his wife has an affair with his collaborator,and ,it makes the matters worse,the lovers want to get away with him ;he decides to launch a pre-emptive strike and to achieve the perfect crime to eliminate his rival.
The film becomes a spoof on thrillers ,but you really have to force yourself to laugh:parodying "Les Diaboliques" -drowning the victim in his bath ,then throwing him into the pool -sorry ,the lake-may be hilarious,but it demands wit,black humor and inventive directing. The director does not rise to the occasion,by a long shot.
A plus for the movie buffs:Claude Chabrol (you read well) is cast as a shrink ,and Stéphane Audran plays the so called adulteress;the director and his then wife and best actress never share a scene in his movies;here,they do!
