Even a dog has its day.
A shipbuilder is ruined. All he has left is a mortgaged house, a mortgaged yacht, and a mortgageable wife. As it happens, he finds a young high-roller, a banker in his spare time, a bit of a sadist around the edges, ready to take on the mortgage in question. Aided by his soul mate, a Turk, brother of his mistress, the shipbuilder throws his Greek wife ,Thassoula, into the arms of the high-roller . The latter falls madly in love with Thassoula.
Willy Rozier ,in his own way , is "an auteur" "Les chiens dans la nuit " is so far-fetched, with actors left to their own devices (Georges Rivière), so ridiculous and so cowardly risqué that,if no taken seriously, it can be watched with a guilty pleasure ; since his debut ,in the early thirties, Rozier had never been particular about details : in "Le Bagnard",doctor Geronimo (sic) is sent to a penal colony and must help his fellow men who suffer from yellow fever before being a true man again;in "56 Rue Pigalle",the two lovers are suffering and are almost dying;and maybe these sufferings will be their salvation.
"Les chiens dans la nuit "follows, in its way,the same pattern : there're some sadistic scenes (performed by a Turk , which shows a racism of sorts ), plenty of villains, a ludicrous love story between the ex-peeping tom high-roller who used to enjoy flogged women ,but now did find true pure love with the vapid heroine .
One thing for sure,Willy Rozier believes that man can redeem his soul. Here ,the way to redemption one finds in almost all the director's efforts,is represented by a noble virtuous -"all my pupils are my friends"-teacher who assures an edifying ending, as moving as a Harlequin romance .
This "evolution " was predictable : after directing a series of ho -hum Callaghan's adventures in the fifties ,it was only natural that he opted for a "daring" thriller with violence cum perils of Pauline before sinking into porno in the seventies ("Dora ,la frénésie du plaisir" aka "dirty Dora")
Word to the wise: Rozier's best movie is certainly "l'auberge de l'abime" (1942), a good depiction of the rural life in the Cévennes during "la terreur blanche" (the white terror) at the time of Napoleon's fall and the royalists' come back .
Willy Rozier ,in his own way , is "an auteur" "Les chiens dans la nuit " is so far-fetched, with actors left to their own devices (Georges Rivière), so ridiculous and so cowardly risqué that,if no taken seriously, it can be watched with a guilty pleasure ; since his debut ,in the early thirties, Rozier had never been particular about details : in "Le Bagnard",doctor Geronimo (sic) is sent to a penal colony and must help his fellow men who suffer from yellow fever before being a true man again;in "56 Rue Pigalle",the two lovers are suffering and are almost dying;and maybe these sufferings will be their salvation.
"Les chiens dans la nuit "follows, in its way,the same pattern : there're some sadistic scenes (performed by a Turk , which shows a racism of sorts ), plenty of villains, a ludicrous love story between the ex-peeping tom high-roller who used to enjoy flogged women ,but now did find true pure love with the vapid heroine .
One thing for sure,Willy Rozier believes that man can redeem his soul. Here ,the way to redemption one finds in almost all the director's efforts,is represented by a noble virtuous -"all my pupils are my friends"-teacher who assures an edifying ending, as moving as a Harlequin romance .
This "evolution " was predictable : after directing a series of ho -hum Callaghan's adventures in the fifties ,it was only natural that he opted for a "daring" thriller with violence cum perils of Pauline before sinking into porno in the seventies ("Dora ,la frénésie du plaisir" aka "dirty Dora")
Word to the wise: Rozier's best movie is certainly "l'auberge de l'abime" (1942), a good depiction of the rural life in the Cévennes during "la terreur blanche" (the white terror) at the time of Napoleon's fall and the royalists' come back .
- ulicknormanowen
- May 12, 2025