Sois belle et tais-toi (1958) - film review

Having just escaped from a Catholic reform school, Virginie joins up with a group of adolescent petty criminals led by a young man named Loulou.  They steal a car which was earlier used in a jewellery hold-up and are pursued by the police. Virginie surrenders herself to the police to allow her friends to escape.  In police custody, she is befriended by Inspector Morel, who pretends to be a crook to gain her confidence.  Morel believes that Virginie will lead him to the mastermind behind the jewellery theft, Charlemagne.  When Virginie discovers that she is being duped, she says that she intends to make a formal complaint, and this forces Morel to marry her.  However, even when married, Virginie still intends to help out her former criminal friends, unaware that they are being used by Charlemagne to smuggle his stolen jewellery out of the country…

Despite the shameful political-incorrectness of its title and some pretty blatant sentimentality, this is an entertaining comedy thriller which achieves a satisfying blend of B-movie gangster fare and slapstick.

Probably the most distinguishing feature of this film is that it marks the virtual cinema debut of two acting legends of French cinema: Alain Delon and Jean-Paul Belmondo.  Both actors are playing adolescent versions of the kind of sympathetic gangster for which they would achieve stardom in the following decade.

© James Travers 2001

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