The Spider and the Fly

Eric Portman is a French police inspector who is used to committing the professional bank robber Guy Rolfe, he has done that a number of times and knows him well, so when in 1916 in the middle of the war a special burglar job is needed in the German legation in Berne, Switzerland, Eric recommends Rolfe, who gets the job. The complication is that they both love the same woman, a certain Madeleine (Nadia Gray), a fact which involves some unforeseen circumstances.

The story is very thought-provoking, there is a toch of tragedy to it as well, Portman and Rolfe are both at their best, and they team very well together.

A committed and cunning detective (Portman) is out to catch his nemesis and a man he respects - sophisticated burglar, Rolfe. During his investigations he falls in love with Rolfe's confederate (Gray), who in turn worships Rolfe. This triangle of love and crime comes to a head when WWI breaks out and Rolfe's skills could now become very useful.

Enjoyable thriller / drama focussing on 3 people who rather like / love each other, but how will it all get resolved. The characters are perhaps a bit cold and underdeveloped but the acting, particularly from Portman is strong and it has a playful, sometimes witty script.

Eric Portman plays a police officer desperate to get Guy Rolfe behind bars in "The Spider and the Fly" from 1949.

Eric Portman is Fernand Maubert, a French police officer around World War II. He is being heavily criticized because he is unable to catch a very efficient robber, Philippe Lodocq (Guy Rolfe) who always seems to have an alibi when there's a robbery.

If things weren't bad enough, both men are in love with the same woman (Nadia Gray). She is madly in love with Philippe, who at first uses her; later, however, he realizes that he does love her.

Happily for Maubert, he is able finally to catch Philippe and throw him in prison for six years. War breaks out, and Maubert, working with the government, is summoned and given an assignment. Maubert knows just the man to carry it out.

I don't know if I gave this an 8 because I've seen so mediocre films lately, or if this was really good. I think this was really good, particularly because of the performances of Portman and the elegant, handsome Guy Rolfe. I only knew him from the film "King of the Khyber Rifles" but was too busy looking at Tyrone Power to notice him.

The lesson of the film is that, for the good of a country, opposing forces can work together. Given the situation in the U. S. today, I found it timely.

There's are two twists at the end, both of which add to the film.

Recommended, especially if you're not familiar with Guy Rolfe.

Police inspector Eric Portman (Maubert) is permanently on the case of gentleman thief Guy Rolfe (Philippe), who is a character similar to David Niven's gentleman thief in the original "Pink Panther" film. The film is set in France just before World War 1 and we watch Portman and Rolfe play out a cat-and-mouse game as various robberies are carried out. Nadia Gray (Madeleine) plays the love interest for our two male leads. She is part of Rolfe's crooked network and Portman is constantly at her to shatter Rolfe's alibis. An undercover operation finally finds Rolfe caught in the act but the outbreak of war leads to new priorities and Portman asks for his old adversary to be released from prison to assist France in stealing some important documents from Switzerland. The film then turns into a buddy-buddy movie as these two characters work together to complete their mission. Can they succeed?

I really enjoyed this film. The acting is good and Portman (representing detection) and Rolfe (representing crime) are extremely likable in their roles and play off each other with a camaraderie that will have you relishing in them working together in the latter part of the film. The dialogue is good throughout and not one scene is wasted. An amusing occasion occurs when Portman arrests Rolfe and they go into a bar on the way to jail to share a cognac together. Portman pays way in excess of the cost of the drink and when this is pointed out by the barmaid, he replies that it is for the glasses as well at which point both Portman and Rolfe smash their glasses onto the floor. It's amusing and it strengthens the bond between them. I dare you to try it next time you have a drink in a bar.

There are a couple of twists at the end which are quite moving. It's a good film to keep and watch again.

Robert Hamer's next film after 'Kind Hearts and Coronets' was this super-stylish precursor to the same director's 'Father Brown' five years later; which feels like an adaptation of a novel but was actually an original screenplay. Continuing his fascination with criminality and deception while studying the bond that develops between a gentleman thief and a detective against a French backdrop, in his tragically sparce career before he drank himself to death aged just 52 he also made two other films with French settings, one of them even called 'To Paris with Love'. It also anticipates 'The Dirty Dozen' and numerous other war films in it's proposition that criminals constitute a valuable resource in wartime.

In answer to an earlier correspondent, Guy Rolfe's career never really took off because health problems made him difficult to work with; although he fortunately enjoyed a late career resurgence in the 'Puppetmaster' series.