Le Rouge est mis (1957)

Le Rouge est mis is a French thriller film first released in 1957, directed by Gilles Grangier.  The film stars Jean Gabin, Paul Frankeur, Annie Girardot, Lino Ventura and Marcel Bozzuffi.  It has also been released under the title: Speaking of Murder.  Our overall rating for this film is: good.


Louis Bertain, a respectable garage owner by day, is the head of a band of notorious crooks by night.  When a hold-up goes badly wrong, Bertain’s younger brother Pierre is suspected of having sold them out to the police.  He was, after all, recently picked up by the police and then released after questioning.  When he is finally caught by Commissaire Pluvier, Louis discovers that he has been betrayed not by Pierre but by another member of his gang…

Jean Gabin and Lino Ventura are reunited for the fourth time in as many years in this standard 1950s French thriller.  The film was based on a novel by the popular série noir writer Auguste Le Breton, whose works were frequently adapated for French cinema.  The characters, the scenario and the dialogue is all familiar stuff, film noir by numbers, but it was a very popular formula at the time.

© James Travers 2004

Write a review for this film...


What do you think of this film?

More French Crime/Thriller
More French Thriller
Recent DVD releases