Un témoin Dans la ville aka A witness in the city (1959) Classic French Noir

"Before Bullitt before the Seven-Ups before The French Connection, there was Un Témoin Dans La Ville!"

Wow!, you're hooked from the opening frames.

An Express train flying down the tracks. A man, Pierre Verdier fights with Jean Ancelin his mistress, between the cars. Jean is desperately fighting for her life. He is trying to throw her off the train. He succeeds....

Directed by Edouard Molinaro (La Cage aux Folles (1978)) written by Édouard Molinaro, Gérard Oury, Alain Poiré, and based on novels by Thomas Narcejac and Pierre Boileau, with additional dialogue by André Tabet and Georges Tabet.

The dazzling cinematography was by Henri Decaë with some great subdued jazz music by Barney Wilen.

Opening sequence

Françoise Brion as Jeanne Ancelin

Jacques Berthier as Pierre Verdier

The film stars Lino Ventura as Ancelin, Sandra Milo as Liliane radio dispatcher, Franco Fabrizi as Lambert - radio taxi driver,  Jacques Berthier as Pierre Verdier, Françoise Brion as Jeanne Ancelin, the City Of Paris and many more players.

Lino Ventura as Ancelin

Sandra Milo as Liliane radio dispatcher

Franco Fabrizi as Lambert - radio taxi driver

During the following opening credits we see an inquiry into the incident. Pierre Verdier is rich he has connections. The coroner's inquest declarers it a suicide, but Ancelin, Jean's cuckold husband doesn't buy it. He knows he killed her. He also is gonna get revenge.

Ancelin has a plan. He's studied Verdier's routine and knows when his household servants have the day off. On the night of that day he breaks into Verdier's house. He removes a fuse from the fuse box, does a bit of snooping around with a flashlight and heads upstairs and waits for him.

He leaves a sort of crime newspaper out on a desk so that when Verdier gets to the room he will see the illustration of Jean falling from the train. He finds an automatic gun in a draw and unloads it pocketing the bullets.

Verdier comes home. The all lights wont turn on and he assumes the power is off. He decides to call a cab to stay the night at a hotel. A radio call dispatches a car to his address.

Verdier then heads up stairs where Ancelin is waiting. Verdier spots the crime newspaper illustration, then sees Ancelin and goes for the automatic in the draw. He points it at Ancelin.

Ancelin shows him that he has the bullets and points his own gun at Verdier. Ancelin takes the gun away. Ancelin ties Verdiers hands behind his back, He uses Verdiers tie as a gag and knocks him groggy. He flops across the desk. Ancelin pulls a sash cord with a slip noose out of his pocket and ties it to a heavy curtain rod. Ancelin then stands on the desk chair lifts Verdier up and slips the noose around his neck.  He steps down and kicks a chair out from under Verdier.

Then Ancelin puts every thing back the way he found it finishing by replacing the fuse back in the box and leaving the house.

Everything went smooth, that is until it goes Noirsville.



When Ancelin goes out the gate to the street he runs into Lambert the radio dispatched cab driver. Ancelin ignores the driver and hurries off.

But then he realizes too late that the man is a witness to him being near the Verdier house with a motive. He runs back to the cab but Lambert is already taking off. Ancelin can only write down his license number. Ancelin becomes obsessed with tying up that loose end.

Noirsville

This film has an abbondanza of excellent noir and impressive cat and mouse type action cinematography with a climactic taxi cab chase all over the night streets of Paris, think of this as a French precursor to Bullit and The Seven-Ups. It also has a sidebar love story.

This was a nice surprise. No happy Hollywood endings either. A great Film Noir 10/10.