Review by dbdumonteil

When Arsene Lupin is the subject of a movie,it follows the quite rigid rule: MTV works are faithful to the books whereas the theatrically-released movies are generally original screenplays (the last one by Jean-Paul Salomé was an improvement for that matter )and there's the rub: none of these screenwriters can match Maurice Leblanc's brilliance ,nobody at all has ever been able of supplying a real sense of mystery , of true suspense .Even a famous talented director such as Jacques Becker failed .

An "Arsene Lupin Contre Arsene Lupin " was already filmed in the thirties (1937,with a bad choice for the actor:Jules Berry was a great actor,but not handsome enough for the role),but Molinaro's movie is no remake for the story is thoroughly different.Unlike Conan Doyle and Agatha Christie ,Maurice Leblanc never killed his hero.This movie begins with a piece of news announcing his death followed by his funeral .He is survived by two natural sons ,who ,when the story begins,do not know each other (hence the title).Jean -Claude Brialy (who would be the best Lupin ever in the MTV "813") and Jean -Pierre Cassel are well cast but the movie looks more like a spoof on Leblanc's novels and a tribute to Feuillade's serials circa 1915 than a true adventure of the burglar gentleman;Molinaro uses old-fashioned techniques ,recalling the silent era.Catherine Deneuve's late sister ,Françoise Dorléac,appears as a reporter (and one of the Lupin bros' lovers)