A lonely male bank employee gets a letter from a certain Jenny who tells him she saw him at work and was impressed by the kindly goodness of his features. Meeting up with her he discovers that she's both young and lovely. Soon he considers her his fiancée. Then he receives terrible news : his fiancée was involved in a car accident...
In spite of some light-hearted lines and scenes, "L'assassin" feels like a thriller/drama rather than a comedy. The plot of this black-and-white movie is quite clever and could have made a thriller for the ages, in the hands of a director of Hitchcock-calibre. As it stands, the movie is pleasantly watchable rather than riveting and fascinating. Fernandel, who has the lead role, does not entirely convince, possibly because he hesitates between honoring and subverting his usual persona. You'll notice that this is one of the many, many thrillers in which the villains, when confronted by their victims, do not hesitate to explain their criminal shenanigans in great detail. In real life such persons would be more inclined to shoot the poor victims in silence - and in five seconds flat.
Watch the last few minutes carefully. A middle-aged loner walks up to a small orphan boy to whom he is not related by blood and declares his intention to shower the child with love and affection. And nobody intervenes in order to question the man about his motives or credentials. The early sixties must have been A More Innocent Time.
In spite of some light-hearted lines and scenes, "L'assassin" feels like a thriller/drama rather than a comedy. The plot of this black-and-white movie is quite clever and could have made a thriller for the ages, in the hands of a director of Hitchcock-calibre. As it stands, the movie is pleasantly watchable rather than riveting and fascinating. Fernandel, who has the lead role, does not entirely convince, possibly because he hesitates between honoring and subverting his usual persona. You'll notice that this is one of the many, many thrillers in which the villains, when confronted by their victims, do not hesitate to explain their criminal shenanigans in great detail. In real life such persons would be more inclined to shoot the poor victims in silence - and in five seconds flat.
Watch the last few minutes carefully. A middle-aged loner walks up to a small orphan boy to whom he is not related by blood and declares his intention to shower the child with love and affection. And nobody intervenes in order to question the man about his motives or credentials. The early sixties must have been A More Innocent Time.
