Fernand (Raymond Pellegrin) has stolen 14 million francs that the gang led by Ricioni (Paul Meurisse) stole in Marseille, and he tries to hide from the gang in a circus where his sister ( a pre-"Zorba" Lila Kedrova) is the fortune teller. The boss hires him as a barker, dancer Gina (Jeanne Moreau) falls for him and the gypsy Quedchi (Moulodji , star of Cayatte's "Nous sommes tous les assasssins") , having seen Fernand's gun, shows an unhealthy interest. You just know it won't end well.
There are many things wrong with the script, though Michel Audiard's dialogue, as sharp as usual, isn't among them. The circus clearly wasn't a great place to hide, as the gang trace Fernand all too easily. Cinquo, the penny-pinching boss of the circus, hires Fernand as a barker without a trial: he's useless and Cinquo has to do the job himself, Quedchi is supposed to have been a trapeze artist who quit after a bad fall, but he has absolutely no difficulty in walking. Finally, it's baffling that the circus includes a ballet dancer, a fortune teller, a magician and a stripper. Obviously French circuses are, or were , very different from those in other countries. Despite all these quibbles I still enjoyed the film considerably.
I bought the DVD because of the cast. Pellegrin and Meurisse often play bad lots, and they don't disappoint. Moreau was still young and lovely, ditto Jacqueline Noelle as Ricioni's prostitute girlfriend. Howard Vernon, the German officer in Melville's "La Silence de la Mer" here plays a trapeze artist. I can't recall seeing Jacques Dufilho in any film before "Le Crabe -Tambour" (1977), and had to check the cast list to see that he played the well-built, thuggish Pepe, Ricioni's sidekick. Also it was hard to believe that Mijanou Bardot, so delightful the following year in "Une balle dans le canon", was the same girl playing Cinquo's rather wan daughter.
I hadn't heard of the director, Pierre Billon. He made this an excellent noir, which owes a certain debt to "The Asphalt Jungle" and "The Killing', though we never see the heist which kick-starts the action. I particularly liked the occasional shots of the little boy and his dog, their innocence providing a nice contrast to the crooks' greed, and hope to see more of Billon's films, particularly "L'homme au chapeau rond" with Raimu. I can't understand why "Jusqu'au dernier", made when he was only 56, was Billon's last film. Was he, perhaps, done in by the Cahiers mob? I'd certainly rather see anything of his than one of Jean-Luc Godawful's efforts.
There are many things wrong with the script, though Michel Audiard's dialogue, as sharp as usual, isn't among them. The circus clearly wasn't a great place to hide, as the gang trace Fernand all too easily. Cinquo, the penny-pinching boss of the circus, hires Fernand as a barker without a trial: he's useless and Cinquo has to do the job himself, Quedchi is supposed to have been a trapeze artist who quit after a bad fall, but he has absolutely no difficulty in walking. Finally, it's baffling that the circus includes a ballet dancer, a fortune teller, a magician and a stripper. Obviously French circuses are, or were , very different from those in other countries. Despite all these quibbles I still enjoyed the film considerably.
I bought the DVD because of the cast. Pellegrin and Meurisse often play bad lots, and they don't disappoint. Moreau was still young and lovely, ditto Jacqueline Noelle as Ricioni's prostitute girlfriend. Howard Vernon, the German officer in Melville's "La Silence de la Mer" here plays a trapeze artist. I can't recall seeing Jacques Dufilho in any film before "Le Crabe -Tambour" (1977), and had to check the cast list to see that he played the well-built, thuggish Pepe, Ricioni's sidekick. Also it was hard to believe that Mijanou Bardot, so delightful the following year in "Une balle dans le canon", was the same girl playing Cinquo's rather wan daughter.
I hadn't heard of the director, Pierre Billon. He made this an excellent noir, which owes a certain debt to "The Asphalt Jungle" and "The Killing', though we never see the heist which kick-starts the action. I particularly liked the occasional shots of the little boy and his dog, their innocence providing a nice contrast to the crooks' greed, and hope to see more of Billon's films, particularly "L'homme au chapeau rond" with Raimu. I can't understand why "Jusqu'au dernier", made when he was only 56, was Billon's last film. Was he, perhaps, done in by the Cahiers mob? I'd certainly rather see anything of his than one of Jean-Luc Godawful's efforts.