"L'avoine et l'oseille" (The oat and the dough) is just another episode in the long long TV series "Les cinq dernières minutes" (147 episodes!) starring Raymond Souplex as Commissaire Bourrel, a role he played 56 times from 1958 to 1972, the date of his death. As a whole, "L'avoine et l'oseille" is a mildly entertaining crime mystery which is worth seeing more for its semi-documentary aspect than its indolent suspense. Indeed, as the object of Bourrel's investigation is the killing of a race horse, it would have been a pity not to provide TV viewers with an insight into the world of horse training. A mistake the writers (Henri Grangé and André Maheux) and the director (Claude Loursais) happily do not make. Thus the viewers are given the opportunity to discover the way an independent trainer and his staff lived back in the early nineteen sixties when this movie was shot. Besides this good point, "L'avoine et l'oseille" cannot boast many virtues. The direction by Claude Loursais (a fixture in the series) is lazy and unimaginative and serviceable at best. The only daring consists in having Bourrel talk to the camera, but this is a characteristic of the whole series so, as this is the 22nd installment, the element of surprise has worn off. The cast is fairly good, with the exception of Etienne Bierry (a usually impeccable actor but who, in this case, dons a ridiculous fake southern accent). The best performances are given by Roger Dutoit as Savy, the threatened horse trainer ; Henri Guisol as Mesnil-Beaugé, the horse owner at the end of his rope; and Charles Lavialle who manages to give his old first stable boy character a lot of good-natured simplicity. As for Raymond Souplex, he is good at delivering his lines with his distinctive voice but he looks old and weary, and filming him seated most of the time does not add much snap to the listless direction. It is sad to say but Jean Daurand as Dupuy, his assistant, is much more lively and funny to look at than his boss Anyway, do not expect a masterpiece. If you are not too demanding, you will enjoy the reasonably interesting plot, the actors and the 1960s atmosphere. And you will find that, despite its lackluster direction, "L'avoine et l'oseille" is an acceptable time killer.
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