Summary
A young boxer Michel Maudet is sacked by his manager after a series of match defeats and
is forced to look for a new job. He is engaged as secretary to a millionaire named
Ferchaux who is in a hurry to flee the country when he discovers he has been implicated
in a high-profile fraud.
Review
This film combines the familiar style of American film noir with the suspense narrative
style of writer Georges Simenon (on whose novel, Un jeune homme honorable, the
film is based). Devotees of the stylish French film director Jean-Pierre Melville
will recognise the ingredients of his better known films, particularly because it stars
Jean-Paul Belmondo, the actor who took the lead role in Le Doulos, one of Melville's
cult films.
Making this film presented a number of major obstacles to Melville. Initially, the
film director intended the film to reflect the real-life story of American millionaire
Howard Hughes and was to be filmed entirely in the united States. He originally
considered Spencer Tracer, and then Charles Boyer for the role of Ferchaux. When
neither actor was available, Melville decided to cast the distinguished French actor Charles
Vanel for the part. Jean-Paul Belmondo, himself a former boxer, was the natural
choice for the character Michel.
Almost immediately, ructions arose between Vanel and Melville. What started out
as minor differences of opinion over the script quickly escalated to a full-blown row
when Vanel insisted that his wife accompany him to America for the filming. Even
after Melville decided to make the film in France, for budgetary reasons, the hostilities
did not abate, and Belmondo, siding with Vanel, himself soon fell out with the director.
Despite this, Vanel and Belmondo give some fine performances and their differences with
the director in no way mar the film, although it proved to be a considerable box office
flop at the time. Needless to say, neither actor worked with Melville again
after having made this film.
L’Aîné des Ferchaux has recently been remade as a television film,
Les Ferchaux, directed by Bernard Stora and starring none other than Jean-Paul
Belmondo in the role of the fugitive millionaire Ferchaux. Belmondo’s role in the
earlier film is taken by Samy Naceri, the young actor who became an overnight star for
his lead role in Gérard Pirès’ 1998 film Taxi.
© James Travers 2001
|
