Directed by Pierre Chenal. Written by Paul Andréota, Pierre Chenal, and Jean Ferry.
It was based on a novel by Auguste Le Breton. Cinematography was by Marcel Grignon, and music was by Michel Legrand.
Charles Vanel is crime boss Léonce Pozzi known as "Le Fondu", and no it doesn' mean the "hot melted cheese dip, lol, it means "Mr. Fade." Vanel's first film credit was in 1910. I first saw him in
The Wages Of Fear, then in
Diabolique.
Mr. Fade's ace up the sleeve is his trademark hand grenade that he carries between his legs, sort of like a third testicle.
Bella Darvi is Mr. Fade's stipper/dancer gal pal Cri Cri who dances at the Pegasus Club in the Pigalle According to her mini bio on IMDb Darvi was "a self-destructive brunette beauty, her life was full of misfortune. Of Polish/French descent, she miraculously survived the tortures of a WWII concentration camp as a youth, only to get caught up in the phony glitter and high-living style of Monaco's casinos as a young adult in Europe. An inveterate gambler and drinker, she was, by chance, "discovered" by movie mogul Darryl F. Zanuck and his wife, Virginia Fox, who thought she had a foreign cinematic allure à la Ingrid Bergman. Despite her lack of acting experience, the Zanucks paid off her gambling debts and whisked her away to Hollywood to be groomed for stardom. Her marquee name "Darvi" was derived from the combined first names of her mentors.... After three high profile roles in
The Egyptian (1954),
Hell and High Water (1954) and
The Racers (1955) opposite three top male films stars (Victor Mature, Richard Widmark and Kirk Douglas, respectively), Darvi's limited abilities were painfully transparent. Not only was she hampered by an ever-so-slight crossed-eyed appearance, she had a trace of a lisp which, combined with a foreign accent, made her speech appear slurred and difficult to understand. It didn't take long for the actress to go off the deep end. Within a short time, a major sex scandal involving Mr. Zanuck had wife Virginia packing Darvi's bags and any "career" she once had here in America was over."
 |
| Léonce Pozzi "Le Fondu" (Charles Vanel) |
 |
| Cri Cri (Bella Darvi) |
 |
| Le commissaire divisionnaire Brevet (Jean Brochard) and L'inspecteur Vardier (Michel Piccoli) |
Michel Piccoli is L'inspecteur Vardier, de la P.J. his breakthrough came after Jean-Luc Godard's
Contempt (1963) he was also in
Is Paris Burning?,
Belle de Jour,
and
The Phantom of Liberty.
 |
| Lucie Barot (Danik Patisson) |
Danik Patisson (
The Accident (1963)) who was usually cast as a vamp, is vixen "Loose Lucie" Barot, the roundheels wife of François Guérinis (
Eyes Without a Face (1960)) who plays L'inspecteur Gilbert Barot, de la P.J.
 |
| Vardier and L'inspecteur Gilbert Barot (François Guérinis) |
 |
| Lucien Donati "Le Niçois" (Marcel Mouloudji) |
 |
| Vardier and LouLou (Monique Tanguy) |
Marcel Mouloudji is pimp Lucien Donati, aka "Le Niçois" translated "Mr. Nice." Jean Brochard (
Diabolique (1955)) is Le commissaire divisionnaire Brevet, de la P.J., Georges Vitray is L'inspecteur Albert taillis, de la P.J. Georges Douking (
The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie (1972)) is "Le fou" "The Fool," Marcel Lupovici is Dédé, and Monique Tanguy is the young prostitute of Mr. Nice Lucienne, aka "Loulou."
The Story
Mr. Fade, a French mobster, is in a hospital room with barred windows. A nurse comes in and checks on him. He looks bad, but as soon as she leaves he's hopping out of bed and getting dressed.
There is a police officer with a machine gun on guard. Mr. Fade goes to the door and opens it. Curious the police man enters and is hit over the head with a chair. Mr. Fade grabs his machine gun covers it with his jacket and slips down the hallway and out of sight.
Mr. Fade heads up to the roof and while trying to cross to another building and make his escape that way he collapses. A cop following his trail comes upon Mr. Fade laying on the roof. Mr. Fade calls out that he's done for.
The cop approaches and Mr. Fade machine guns him down. The dead cop was the long time partner of Inspector Vardier. Vardier vows to get Mr. Fade, but they have no idea of where he's holed up. Mr. Fade has a lot of underworld friends.
 |
| Vardier's dead partner |
Vardier besides dealing with trying to locate Mr. Fade is also burdened with a rookie partner fresh out of the police academy, Inspector Gilbert Barot. Barot has a pretty young wife Lucie who catches Vardier's eye.
 |
| Squad Room |
 |
| Old Hooker |
 |
| Vardier picking up Lucie |
Vardier now has to contact his stoolies, and try and get a line on Mr. Fade. He contacts The Fool, who works as a bartender in the Quartier Pigalle. It's on the border between the 9th and the 18th arrondissements. The Pigalle is the Paris equivalent of Times Square. The district is full of theaters, sex shops, strip tease joints, con artists, and hookers. The Moulin Rouge is in the Pigalle. During WWII it was called "Pig Alley" by the allies soldiers.
 |
| Vardier at the stoolies bar |
 |
| Vardier and "The Fool" (Georges Douking) |
From The Fool Vardier finds out that Mr. Fade has a nephew Lucien Donati who is a pimp who goes by the nickname "Le Niçois," Mr. Nice and that he operates out of a Pigalle hotel. As soon as Vardier splits however, The Fool makes a call to the brother of Mr. Fade, and tells him to tell Mr. Fade to be careful of Mr. Nice.
 |
| Mr. Fade's brother telling Mr. Fade about the call from The Fool |
 |
| Mr. Fade and Cri Cri in his basement hideout |
Vardier traces Mr. Nice down to a dive hotel where he is shacked up with LouLou his hooker. Vardier and a squad arrest them and haul both down to headquarters.
 |
| LouLou and Mr. Nice |
Vardier through bribery finagles Mr. Nice and LouLou into signing incriminating documents against each other. Vardier uses this leverage over Mr. Nice to get him to rat out where his Uncle Pozzi "Mr. Fade" is hiding out. Mr. Nice tells Vardier he doesn't know where he is hiding nor has he heard from him. Vardier tells him to start looking.
Meanwhile Vardier occupies his partner Barot with interviewing various underworld figures, while Vardier starts an affair with Barot's wife Lucie.
Mr. Nice visits Cri Cri at the Pegasus Club but she tells him that she hasn't seen Mr. Fade.
 |
| Cri Cri hasn't seen Mr. Fade |
Eventually He goes to visit his shopkeeper uncle and asks him about his brother Mr. Fade. Down in the basement Mr. Fade who has been hiding there for weeks is hanging out with his girlfriend Cri Cri a Pigalle stripper. Mr. Fade shows himself to Mr. Nice and tells him he's moving out. Mr. Fade wants Mr. Nice to drive him to his new hideout.
It's a test. When Mr. Fade enters the building of his new hideout, Mr. Nice takes off for the nearest phone and calls Vardier.
 |
| Mr. Nice ratting out Mr. Fade |
A police raid is set in motion but Mr. Fade is staked outside watching the police enter the address, and he knows Mr. Nice set him up. Mr. Fade goes looking for Mr. Nice. He finds him at a poker game. Mr Fade tells Mr. Nice that he changed his mind and he wants Mr. Nice to drive him to a new hideout.
 |
| police raid |
 |
| Mr. Fade watches the action |
 |
| Lets go for a ride... |
Mr. Fade is taking Mr. Nice for a ride. In some remote French Noirsville back alley Mr. Fade tells Mr. Nice to stop. Mr Fade tells Mr. Nice its a shame because he liked him as he blasts away with his automatic.
 |
| goodbye Mr. Nice |
Will Vardier find Mr. Fade? Will Barot discover his wife's infidelitis? Will Mr. Fade use his third testicle? There are some nice twists, turns and surprises leading to the denouement.
Noirsville
Sinners of Paris was a nice surprise to find. Its a routine policer that manages to stay interesting. There's got to be a lot more out there mostly unknown to aficio-noir-dos. They never had international releases and probably are in French only. 7/10
No comments:
Post a Comment