Retrato Partido

...and finally failing.Slanderous mail ("le corbeau" ) and a lousy school with a dirty headmaster ("les diaboliques" ) will fatally make the viewer think of French master HG Clouzot.Granier-Deferre tried to "update" our film noir genius's work : the heroine is completely naked half of the time,there's an open ending,he uses Marianne Faithful's superb "ballad of Lucy Jordan" -although the connection with the movie escapes me - and he hints at lesbianism (which Clouzot had already done in "Quai des orfèvres" ) .

The only asset of the movie is Elisabeth Bourgine's presence ,an ambiguous woman with a child's face .

Pierre Granier-Deferre has seen better days: "le chat" ,"une étrange affaire".