La Valse du gorille (1959)
Directed by Bernard Borderie

Film Review

Le Gorille vous salue bien (1958) made the then relatively unknown Lino Ventura a household name in France, but Ventura was wise not to allow himself to be talked into reprising his role in this film for the sequel that came along not long afterwards, La Valse du Gorille.  With his lead man out of the running, director Bernard Borderie needed a replacement with a similar physique and taciturn charm, and this he found in Roger Hanin, an actor he had first employed in a minor role on his first Lemmy Caution film, La Môme vert de gris (1953).  Hanin did not share Ventura's concerns over being typecast and ended up reprising the role of Géo Paquet in the third and final Gorilla film, Le Gorille a mordu l'archevêque (1962) before taking on a virtually identical role in Claude Chabrol's two oft reviled Tigre films.

Bernard Borderie began his career in the early 1950s by turning out some fairly respectable pastiches of American noir thrillers, but by the end of the decade inspiration was fast deserting him and complacency could be seen to take its place.  Despite being elegantly photographed by Claude Renoir, La Valse du Gorille lacks the pace and artistry of Borderie's previous thrillers, and the convoluted, far-fetched plot only makes these failings more apparent.  The spy thriller genre was a popular staple of French cinema in the late 50s, but original plots were few and far between, so most resorted to predictable storylines that had already been done to death.  Although based on one of Antoine-Louis Dominique's popular Gorilla novels, La Valse du Gorille is shallow and tediously formulaic.  Perhaps if Borderie had been able to bribe Lino Ventura into the playing the lead character the film might have had some enduing appeal, but with Hanin roped in as a poor substitute it is plodding and charmless.

Film Synopsis

An international conference at which Professor Keibel is to present his theory for a revolutionary new rocket system is sabotaged by German agents determined to steal Keibel's discovery and sell it to the highest bidder.  The French secret service manages to recover the stolen papers, but American agent Ted Parker succeeds in copying them, hiding the microfilm in the toilets of a bar before he is captured.  Only one man can prevent Keibel's discovery from falling into the hands of Russian, German, British and American agents - Géo Paquet, otherwise known as The Gorilla...