Mauvaise graine

Cocky son of a doctor Henry (Pierre Mingand), a frankly wreckless driver, has the keys to his father's car taken away from him. Even with his Maurice Chevalier impression he is unlikely to be able to impress the girls by bus. He is tempted to steal a car in order to fulfil a date, is hijacked by a real car-stealing gang and throws in his lot with them. And so we find ourselves in what I think is called a Straßenfilm - Henry rejects his comfortable background for Paris's streets of crime.

The gang at work are entertaining, with cravate cleptomaniac Jean, and le Zèbre who keeps turning up with a string of old bangers. It's good to see a black actor (Gaby Héritier) shown as part of the city's makeup, and Michel Duran is excellent as the gang's wily boss.

In this film Danielle Darrieux (still only sixteen or seventeen) escapes her role as the ballroom-frequenting daughter of the aristocracy. She is funny as the gang's honey-trap and hilarious as the sullen secretary.

There are clunky but exciting night-time chase scenes through French villages as the plot moves into something more like a road-trip movie, and there's a noticeable change in mood as Darrieux and Mingand find themselves walking down the mountain road. Here, for a while, you get the feeling of two real people talking to each other and just the hint of a different movie again.

Certainly it's an uneven sort of film in tone but still a good watch and of interest to fans of Darrieux and of Wilder.

Let me start by saying, if you've never seen a Billy Wilder movie, see at least 5 to 10 before seeing this. You won't appreciate it much unless you want to see Wilder's roots. This is Wilder's directorial debut, and it shows. That's not to say its a bad picture (Wilder didn't do many bad pictures), it's just not great.

When Nazis took over Austria, Wilder fled to Berlin, and later to Paris. While he was there, he wrote and directed one movie. This is it. While the film is pretty rough and not nearly as tight as his later movies, it definitely shows early aspects of his later films. You will see lots of gags similar to those he would later write with I.A.L. Diamond. Particularly the scene at the water park. Watch carefully for a make-up mirror shot, he later duplicated in The Apartment.

In between scenes there are one to three minute montages of music and shots that don't do much for the story, and tend to make your mind wander off a bit. However, one of the film's most redeeming factors is Franz Waxman's score. This movie is not only a must-see for Wilder fans, but also for fans of movie scores, as Waxman's music can be heard in nearly 300 movies, including The Philadelphia Story, Gone With the Wind, Hitchcock classics such as Rear Window and Rebecca, and some of Wilder's American films like Sunset Blvd., and Stalag 17. Waxman's music helps deliver nearly all of the jokes, and keeps the movie flowing well.

The scene that stands out most in the movie, is probably the car chase (wonderfully scored by Waxman, by the way), which is not too shabby considering it was the first film Wilder directed, and on such a low budget.

This film is important for the careers of Billy Wilder and Franz Waxman and is a must see if you are a fan of either. Was also an early film for Danielle Darrieux who has been acting in films for over 70 years, and is still going.

7/10

After his father sells his car, Henri "borrows" a stranger's car in order to make a date with a young woman. This act sees him fall foul of a gang of car thieves but after some discussion he joins their gang. Things seem to be going well but he and the boss don't see eye to eye.

Interesting enough French crime-drama. Plot is pretty basic but it is fairly engaging as we follow Henri's adventures and change from law abiding citizen to criminal. One or two good comedic moments too.

The most interesting aspect of this film is that it was Billy Wilder's directorial debut, having received a writing credit for 22 previous films. He would have to wait another eight years for his second, and his first Hollywood film, The Major and the Minor. This was also a fairly unspectacular affair. His third film, Five Graves to Cairo, was better but still didn't give an indication of the masterpieces that were to come. However, his fourth, Double Indemnity (1944) was brilliant and from then on he never looked back.

First thing to bear in mind is that it's a collaboration Wilder/Esway.Esway was a minor FRench director whose best film is perhaps his old-fashioned but charming "Education de Prince" starring Louis Jouvet.

Of course Billy Wilder became one of the greatest directors in history but many of his fans might be disappointed.The seeds of the works to come are here but they are few and far between Of course the "statistics" and the voice-over heralds the prologue of "the seven years itch" These two-bit gangsters are the forerunners of those we would find in "some like it hot".

The greybeard who tries to seduce Jeanette and has his car stolen already displays that Wilder's tendency to turn "moral" something which is not ("Kiss me stupid" "Avanti") But the best gag remains the brat putting a stolen license plate on his car .

The ending does not convince since it's finally very dramatic ;but all in all,it was the classic ending of the French movie of that era: going somewhere else.

NB:When Wilder was working in Paris,Richard Pottier was making at about the same time his "Fanfare d'Amour" which would inspire ( check the screenplays ) BW's own "Some like it hot".

In the 30's, in Paris, the playboy Henri Pasquier (Pierre Mingand) is supported by his father, Dr. Pasquier (Paul Escoffier) with money and a brandy new car. When Dr. Pasquier decides to suspend the allowance and sell the car to force Henri to get a job, he leaves home and associates to a gang of car thieves. Henri falls in love for the thief Jeannette (Danielle Darrieux), and when they are betrayed by their boss, they decide to move to Casablanca and straight their lives.

"Mauvaise Graine" is the magnificent debut of Billy Wilder as director. The attractive story has action, romance, drama, comedy in right doses, and in 2006, there is another great attraction: the wonderful old cars. The planes of shooting are amazing even for the present days. The seventeen years old Danielle Darrieux, in the beginning of career and extremely beautiful, is another attraction. This unknown movie is a gem to be discovered. My vote is eight.

Title (Brazil): "Semente do Mal" ("Bad Seed")