Scacco alla morte

At my time of writing,"échec au porteur" has a very low rating.It's too bad:people who 'll give it a chance will not be disappointed.Gilles Grangier's fifties movies are almost all worthwhile.

Okay the gangsters side -with Gert "Goldfinger" Froebe- as the leader is conventional.But all that remains is original:first of all,Serge Reggiani,the star,disappears very early in the story.Then the hero becomes a ball(you read well) which contains a bomb which is to explode around 10PM.A child takes it,then he is sent to hospital( and he wants to keep his ball with him).Captain Paul "Diabolique" Meurisse has got to find back the thing.A lot of characters are involved including Jeanne Moreau as Régianni's love.

Recalls sometimes that Hitchcock short "Bang!You're dead!" where Bill()y Mumy played with a true revolver.

The last sequence,when the ball almost becomes a living thing,is worthy of a film noir master.