A rich woman murders her unfaithful husband, while shifting the suspicion unto his mistress. Meanwhile she's having an affair with a fearsomely efficient barrister who slips her useful tips on how to play the system. Will the wrong woman be accused and convicted, or will justice prevail ?
As you can tell from the first paragraph, this is a hugely enjoyable thriller with a clever plot. It features not one but two memorable villains : the first one is a deeply amoral femme fatale, the second is an equally cynical barrister who knows the criminal law like the back of his hand. Do watch the scenes where the barrister provides his client/lover with a suitable outfit - the aim, here, is to breathe a quiet and respectable elegance - and coaches her on how to behave and what to say before the "juge d'instruction". They're at once over-the-top cynical and deeply, uncomfortably plausible...
Many people know and appreciate Bourvil primarily as a comic, but in fact he was equally capable of tackling serious or even tragic roles. Here he's quite good as a fair-minded "juge d'instruction" who realizes someone's trying to play him like a fiddle. A superbly beautiful Marina Vlady is a femme fatale to die for, while Pierre Brasseur exudes exactly the right mix of self-confidence, brutality and cunning.
Recommended.
As you can tell from the first paragraph, this is a hugely enjoyable thriller with a clever plot. It features not one but two memorable villains : the first one is a deeply amoral femme fatale, the second is an equally cynical barrister who knows the criminal law like the back of his hand. Do watch the scenes where the barrister provides his client/lover with a suitable outfit - the aim, here, is to breathe a quiet and respectable elegance - and coaches her on how to behave and what to say before the "juge d'instruction". They're at once over-the-top cynical and deeply, uncomfortably plausible...
Many people know and appreciate Bourvil primarily as a comic, but in fact he was equally capable of tackling serious or even tragic roles. Here he's quite good as a fair-minded "juge d'instruction" who realizes someone's trying to play him like a fiddle. A superbly beautiful Marina Vlady is a femme fatale to die for, while Pierre Brasseur exudes exactly the right mix of self-confidence, brutality and cunning.
Recommended.