VincentElgar

La Louve Solitaire, which I saw as "Golden Claws of Cat Girl" (a title worthy of ten stars alone), stars stunning redhead Danielle Gaubert as trapeze artist turned cat burglar Françoise. There's more than a little hint of Nikita in the way Françoise is forced to work for the government after being caught red-handed on a job and one can't help but wonder whether Luc Besson saw this before making that movie. Assisted by undercover agent and gifted lip-reader Bruno (Michel Duchaussoy), Françoise undertakes a daring heist to help nail a drug trafficking gang. Complications inevitably ensue.

The heist sequence is reasonably well-done and is the highlight of this fairly obscure little movie which suffers badly from an uneven tone. Whereas Françoise has all the makings of a comic book heroine – a sexy, catsuit-clad superthief with remarkable acrobatic abilities - La Louve Solitaire is a grey, gloomy movie. Françoise is too cold and remote a character to empathise with and the script lacks the snap and humour that would have brought her flirtations with Bruno to life. Danielle Gaubert certainly looks the part, but her glacial beauty was put to far better use in Radley Metzger's 'Camille 2000'.

Aficionados of 1960s interior design might like to check out Franciose's apartment, but others should check out Mario Bava's Diabolik instead - a movie which has the humour and sparkle La Louve Solitaire desperately lacks. 4/10.

Singapore 1973 – Jack Flowers (Gazzara) a worldworn drifter, has finally found his niche. He is a small-time pimp, eking out a living arranging liaisons for jaded ex-pats and burned-out GIs. Everybody knows Jack and everyone likes him – a situation that changes rapidly when he decides to open his own house of ill repute.

Saint Jack is Peter Bogdanovich's most accomplished film. Made long after his Hollywood star had waned it is a low-key, character driven piece full of memorable scenes and performances. The Singapore it depicts is long gone, buried under acres of concrete and glass. The world Jack Flowers' inhabits is old school orient - sampans, alleyways, bustling markets and street hustlers. Denholm Elliot excels as the bemused, vaguely melancholy accountant Jack takes under his wing. Rodney Bewes and Joss Ackland do memorable turns as aimlessly Englishmen abroad. Former James Bond George Lazenby puts in an appearance as a slimy US senator and director Bogdanovich plays a CIA operative.

For a movie produced by Roger Corman and Hugh Hefner it's far from the exploitation fare its subject matter might suggest. Photographed by the great Robby Muller and based on a novel by Paul Theroux it's well worth a look. 8/10

**Also recommended for fans of this movie is "Kinda Hot: The Making of Saint Jack in Singapore" by Ben Slater (ISBN: 9812610693) - a fascinating behind-the-scenes look at the making of the film.

'Delirium' is a disappointing late addition to the giallo cycle which peaked in the first half of the 1970s. Luscious Serena Grandi (who looks the part but unfortunately cannot act) plays the owner of a fashion magazine who becomes involved in a not-terribly-interesting series of murders. There's the usual prowling camera-work and off-kilter set-design common to this genre, but the script is too dull and the performances too by-the-numbers for this to be truly effective. Things are not helped by a truly appalling synth-based score by Simon Bosworth and some ludicrous makeup effects (intended apparently to depict the killer's 'dehumanisation' of his victims. Capucine, in one of her final screen roles, adds a bit of class as a rival magazine publisher.

For die-hard genre fans only – 3/10.