Des femmes disparaissent aka Road to shame (1959) White Slave Noir

"Women Disappear"

Director Édouard Molinaro (Le dos au mur (1958), Un témoin dans la ville (1959), La mort de Belle (1961), La cage aux folles (1978).

Written by Gilles Morris-Dumoulin and Albert Simonin, and based on a novel by G. Morris-Dumoulin, with additional dialog by Albert Simonin. 

Cinematographer Robert Juillard (Diabolique, The Wages of Fear). Music by Art Blakey

The film stars Robert Hossein (Rififi, Toi... le venin, Le monte-charge, Chair de poule) as Pierre Rossi, Magali Noël (Rififi) as Coraline Merlin, Estella Blain as Béatrice, Philippe Clay (Bell Book and Candle) as Tom, Jane Marken as Mme. Cassini, Jacques Dacqmine as Victor Quaglio, Robert Lombard as Merlin, François Darbon as Camille, Pierre Collet as Nasol.

Robert Hossein as Pierre Rossi

Estella Blain as Béatrice

Philippe Clay as Tom

Magali Noël as Coraline Merlin

Pierre Collet as Nasol

Jacques Dacqmine as Victor Quaglio

The film opens with a declaration about how its a public service film human trafficking and that by showing some of the methods used by theses rings it will inform women to be more on guard for the common tricks used,

Story

Night. Marseille  A tugboat air horn blares from the black void of the Rhone. A percussive beat of drums and cymbals, begins both the jazz score by Art Blakey and the title sequence.

We are in a rundown riverfront neighborhood of narrow streets. A streetside garage with a single gas pump is closing for the night. A sign just inside the entrance advertises a Driving School. The employees exit and Pierre Rossi switches off the lights and slides the corrugated door down before drifting down the street. 

We pick Pierre back up as he turns a corner dodges a dog and and makes his way along a sidewalk kicking a basket soccer style out of his way as he walks towards us. He is watched by two men sitting in a 1957 Citroën 2CV. Pierre's got the Brando look. Leather jacket over a white T and jeans.

Pierre, stops short just as he is about enter the door to some flats, when he spots a 1957 Citroën 2CV parked just up the street, 

Two hoods Tom and Nasol are in the Citroën. Tom in charge, is slender, chews gum, and has a slightly cadaverous appearance. Nasol is more filled out, his clothes seem like their strained, but appears to be a bit of a dimmer bulb. 

Nasol and Ton

When Pierre slips out of sight into the building Nasol pulls out a pack of cigarettes and shakes out a but and puts it to his lips. Just before he's about to light it, Tom reaches over and snatches it out of his mouth.  He flips it out the window. He tells him they don't need any fireworks bringing attention to themselves. Tom then pulls out a sliding puzzle and begins to slide the tiles around. 

There's a scene or two like this in some American Noir. In one the gizmo is a card, with a woman's head in profile, but just the back in printed in ink. The front, is a black bead chain where you shake the card and get different noses chin's etc., etc. every time for mindless amusement. Another that I remember is one of those enclosed baseball diamond that had holes for bases and home and you shook it and see which hole the the small lead shot landed in.

Anyway back to the film...

A light goes on in a window of the building Pierre entered. We cut to and watch blonde Béatrice getting ready to go out. She grabs her high keel shoes, covers her sleeping brother and sneaks out of their apartment. 

She is caught slipping on her shoes by Pierre her boyfriend. He wants to know where she is going, she doesn't want to tell him.

He follows her down the stair and out into the street. They walk away towards the corner. Tom and Nasol start the Citroën and follow. 

Along the way we are cutting between POV's the narrow city streets from inside the Citroën and Pierre and Béatrice arguing their way along the alleys. He wants to known where she's going and she's being evasive. 

She tells him it's her girls night out. When she gets to her destination Pierre is resigned to hang out and wait for the girls to come out. 

Meanwhile Béatrice arrives at what looks like a "hen party" of very striking females, doing lots of female chattering about this, and that while in different states of dress. 

Jane Marken as Mme. Cassini rt.

Mme. Cassini an older female seems to be in charge of the group. They had all thought that Béatrice  may not have been able to make it. Béatrice looks out the window down at Pierre, before turning back to the group.

We cut back to a view of Pierre. He stabs a but in his mouth and lights it. He turns his head and sees the same Citroën sitting in the street. 

We cut back now to Tom and Nasol in the Citroën watching Pierre. This guy is going to be trouble, Tom decides. He orders Nasol to do it quick. Nasol gets out of the Citroën. He slams the door.

The sound of that spins Pierre around to watch. We see Nasol approach. We see his schtick. He comes right up to Pierre looks him up and down and asks him to "repeat what he said earlier?"

It catches the usual victim off guard because when you think the guy is drunk and mistaken you'll give the benefit of a doubt. Pierre asks "are you crazy?" 

Nasol angrily reaches up and grabs Pierre's leather jacket lapels. Shaking Pierre, Nasol replies the you guys never stop arguing.

When Pierrre replies "hands off, when Nasol calls him a dirty little rat Pierre spits the lit cigarette in Nasol's face, and this causes him to let go and back off. 

Nasol tries to throw a punch Pierre ducks it chopping him on the back of the neck, Nasol goes down. He tries to rise but Pierre is on him, and about to hit him again when two gendarmes pop into the frame and break it up. Nasol blames the fight on Pierre.

The gendarmes ask for their papers. One of them flipping through Pierre's papers asks Pierre if he has a job. 

Nasol in a suit they don't ask that, but they do ask if he wants to lodge a complaint .He tells them no, let him go. The gendarmes order Pierre to split to go home.

When Nasol gets back to the Citroën he gets chastised by Tom. He tells him you should have lodged the complaint and it would of got Pierre hauled off to jail," and out of their hair.

We cut to Pierre walking down a narrow alley away from us. The Citroën turns into the same alley behind him. The Citroën speeds up and Pierre runs. Nasol opens the car door just as they reach Pierre. It plows him down. 

Tom hits the hooks. Nasol steps out and pulls the unconscious Pierre out of the street. The result is Tom orders Nasol to get his wallet with his papers and money so it looks like a mugging.

We cut back to Mme. Cassini who organizes these "girls night outs" where the girls wear Mme. Cassini's dresses to the parties they are invited to that are thrown by Coraline's husband Merlin's boss Victor Quaglio. 

They all know Coraline, was "one of them," a girl from the poor side of town who made it out. These parties Quaglio gives have, movie producers, plastic surgeons, fashion photographers, advertisers, etc., etc. and other business men who will perhaps notice them and Mme. Cassini's dresses. A win, win, for everyone and a fun night regardless what happens.  

They are all waiting for Coraline to come pick them up in her car and drive them all to Victor Quaglio's party.

At mob boss Victor Quaglio office, Victor is telling Nasol how stupid he was to first not file a complaint, and two for trying to kill Pierre, just after the cops broke up their fight. Nasol gets a bit too testy for the boss raising his voice telling Victor that he's in his territory and his operation is going to be blamed on him. 

Victor reminds Nasol of his beginnings Nasol the purse snatching, Nasol the roller of drunks,... Nasol the loser.

That last statement has Nasol pulling out a switchblade on the boss. Nasol is stupid though since Tom is sitting right behind him listening to Nasol's rebellion. He gets up and sneaks up behind Nasol and when Nasol spins around Tom pokes both his eyes. 

Blinded Nasol does not last long as he flails away trying to lunge at where he hears Tom stomp his feet. Victor gives Tom a hand signal. He's brushing him him off with his hand. Tom stands Nasol up and kicks him in the solar plexus. He goes down. 

Victor looks Nasol over and twists his head and tells Tom to dump him in that same side street where they left Pierre, and leave Pierre's wallet by his body, there's already signs of a struggle where they fought. 

We cut back to Pierre coming out of it laying face down on the ground. Pierre gets up and discovers that his wallet is gone. He immediately heads to Mme. Cassini's. He pushes his way in to find Béatrice and the rest of the girls already gone.

Mme. Cassini gets a basin and washcloth to wash his wounds for him. When Pierre asks if she knows where they went she tells him no but that they were just going to go dancing.

It really starts going Noirsville when we cut to the villa of Victor Quaglio. There we find Victor and his "associates" prepping for the new girls. Apparently the associates all pretend to be the doctors, movie producers, modeling agency executives, etc., etc. that the girls were all talking about. 

Victor instructs them to give these girls the fairy tale treatment, make them believe their dreams are coming true. 

At the party they spike the punch and pair off with the girls promising this and that and arranging "business" trips to deliver the new girls the brothels that need them.

Pierre, after leaving Mme. Cassini's again spots the familiar Citroën driving down the same road where he a Nasol got into their fight. 

The Citroën pulls to a stop, and from the shadows, Pierre watches Tom pulling Nasol's body from the car and drags the corpse into the alley.

Pierre runs up to the car watches Tom dump Nasol, and then hops into the back seat hoping Tom will bring him to Béatrice.

Noirsville 

The whole film after the establishing shots has that studio set feel. From the rat warren city streets, the opulent Quaglio mansion to the cliffside scenery everything is not quite real. It's a dreamed up Noirsville that works because the acting and action sequences are well done and the build to the denouement is good enough to make it all work. 

Other than Robert Hossein who has been in quite a few French Noir the rest of the cast was not familiar to me but both Phillipe Clay and Jacques Dacqmine are memorable. This would make a good double bill with Passport To Shame. 7/10