Les Salauds vont en enfer (1956)
Directed by Robert Hossein

Film Review

Marseille, 1956.  The actor Robert Hossein had just completed work on Jules Dassin's Du rififi chez les hommes when he readied himself for the premiere of his directorial debut, Les Salauds vont en enfer.  This was Hossein's first adaptation of a Frédéric Dard novel, to be followed by Toi le venin, Les Scélerats and Le Monte-charge.  At the time, Hossein was somewhat disappointed by the reaction he received from a reserved public.  It cannot be denied that the approach adopted by Hossein, an odd mix of violence and eroticism, was unusual for the time, and in retrospect the film appears to be some years ahead of its time.

Les Salauds vont en enfer tells the story of two escaped prisoners who hate each other and who will find more than they bargained for when they hit the road together.  Supervised by veteran film director Georges Lampin (who directed Hossein in Crime et châtiment (1956)) and filmed in three separate parts - the prison, the escape and the death triangle - this respectable French film noir explores various facets of human behaviour, including passion, love, rivalry, friendship, moral conflict and feminine wiles.

Hossein's first film is imaginatively directed and photographed, with a dramatic score as befits an old-fashioned crime drama.  It is no surprise that the French-Russian actress Marina Vlady (Hossein's wife at the time) was given the part of the temptress Eva.  After André Cayatte's Avant le deluge (1954), this was her second important film.  Not always appreciated by the public, Marina Vlady would later prove her versatility, in dramatic and lighter roles.  Handsome leading man Henri Vidal had just completed work on Le Port du désir (as Jean Gabin's co-star) when he was approached by Hossein to play one of the leading characters in his film.  His easy-going presence and imposing persona made him the ideal choice for the part of the misogynous murderer Pierre Macquart.

Having become a familiar face in cinema through such notable French classics as Les Portes de la nuit, Les Amants de Vérone, Manon and Casque d'or, the gifted actor Serge Reggiani, who was used to playing tragically fated young men, was cast in the role of the traitor Rudel.  The supporting cast includes Robert Dalban, Lucien Raimbourg, Jacques Duby, Marthe Mercadier and Robert Hossein himself.  Les Salauds vont en enfer may not be a masterpiece but it attracted an audience of 62,500 and has just been brought out on DVD.  See it if you can!

Film Synopsis

Macquart and Rudel are two hardened criminals who are serving life sentences in a secure prison from which escape seems to be impossible.  The execution of another inmate, suspiciously denounced by one of his fellows, provides the two convicts with the opportunity they have long been waiting for.  The funeral offers a perfect distraction, allowing Macquart and Rudel to make good their escape in a van, although they have to kill two warders in the attempt.  Unable to believe their good fortune, they head south as fast a possible and arrive at a suitably out of the way spot in Camargue.  Here, they come across a wood cabin which will provide them with a suitable temporary refuge.

Unfortunately, the cabin is already inhabited - by a painter, who is quickly disposed of, and his young model, Éva, who makes an attractive adornment to the makeshift abode.   Seeing that the strangers are armed and dangerous, Éva makes a show of cooperating with them, but in doing so she does her best to play them off against each other.  The two convicts plan to resume their journey in the painter's jeep, but Éva has other ideas.  The area around the cabin is strewn with patches of quicksand that can pull a man to his death within seconds.  Éva takes one of the signs marking the position of such a danger spot and moves it further down the beach.   The trap is prepared.  It will not have to wait very long before it claims its victims...