Film Review
Louis Malle's
Ascenseur
pour l'échafaud (1958) was the film that set Jeanne Moreau
on the road to international stardom, but before this the actress had spent
almost a decade appearing in less notable films, many of which deserve their
place in obscurity.
Gas-oil
(1955), a minor film noir directed by Gilles Grangier, was one of the first
of Moreau's films to make effective use of her alluring mystique and unconventional
sensuality, although their second collaboration -
Trois jours à
vivre - was somewhat less successful. The most interesting aspect
of this later film is its humorously derisive perspective on a repertory
company consisting of second rate actors who have a laughably over-inflated
opinion of their own abilities.
The thriller element of the film appears to have been tacked on as an after-thought
and pretty well undermines what might otherwise have been a justly cruel
satire on provincial theatre and all who sail in her. The film's schizoid
feel may in part be down to Jacques Deray's input as an assistant director.
A far more inspired director of thrillers than Grangier, Deray would later
direct some of the most successful French policiers of the following decades,
most notably his stylish collaborations with Alain Delon -
Borsalino (1970),
Flic Story (1975) and
Trois hommes à abattre
(1980). The darker, more noir-realistic aspects of
Trois jours à
vivre carry Deray's distinctive signature, and Deray even gets to lend
both his voice and his name as a news reporter on the radio in one scene.
If Deray had been in the driving seat there can be no doubt that this would
have been a far more interesting film - at the least on a par with his early
thrillers
Rififi à Tokyo
(1960) and
Symphonie pour
un massacre (1963).
Gilles Grangier may not have been as consistently impressive as Jacques Deray
but he was nonetheless a highly accomplished journeyman filmmaker of remarkable
versatility, as adept at turning out incredibly popular comedies like
Poisson d'avril (1954) and
Cuisine au beurre (1963),
as classic French polars best represented by
Le Désordre et la nuit
(1958) and
Le Cave se rebiffe
(1961).
Trois jours à vivre is one of Grangier's mid-ranking
thriller offerings, respectful of the classic film noir motifs but somewhat
lacking in coherence and flair - a watchable but pretty humdrum example of
its kind that is amply salvaged by its impressive cast list.
Needless to say, Jeanne Moreau is the star attraction in this fairly lacklustre
Grangier offering, magnetically alluring as a wannabe star who achieves fame
not by merit but by playing the femme fatale for real. Daniel Gélin's
character has the same ambitions as Moreau's but, being as spineless as he
is talentless, he elicits no sympathy whatsoever when a butch Italian good-for-nothing
named Lino shows up and threatens to kill him for denouncing him to the police.
Lino is of course Lino Ventura, well and truly cast according to type as
a muscle-bound hoodlum with as much heart as a lump of concrete. Risibly
shallow as the characterisation is, Ventura succeeds where every other member
of the cast fails, which is to make his archetypal character sympathetic
and believable, although he would be far better served on Grangier's later
thriller
125, rue Montmartre
(1959). Unevenly paced and saddled with a pedestrian, unconvincing
B-movie plot,
Trois jours à vivre is by no means the most memorable
of Gilles Grangier's thrillers, but the few feisty scenes with Moreau and
Ventura make watching it well worth the effort.
© James Travers, Willems Henri 2015
The above content is owned by filmsdefrance.com and must not be copied.
Next Gilles Grangier film:
Échec au porteur (1958)
Film Synopsis
Simon Belin, a minor actor with a travelling theatre company, has
dreams of one day become a great star. He knows for certain that he
has talent but for some reason the great roles have always eluded him.
As a result, he languishes in obscurity, jealous of his professional rival
Alexandre Bérimont. One day, he happens to witness a murder
and knows he is morally obliged to bring this matter to the attention of
the police. His agent sees at once an opportunity to make Simon famous,
so he puts pressure on the aspiring actor to go to the police immediately.
Simon identifies the killer as Lino Ferrari, a notorious gangster, not knowing
that he is in fact completely innocent of the crime. Simon's erroneous
testimony leads to Ferrari being arrested, convicted and sent to prison for
twenty years. The gangster swears that when he gets free Simon will
pay for his false testimony with his life. With Ferrari safely behind
bars Simon soon benefits from his new-found celebrity and replaces Bérimont
as the lead actor of his company. Things take a drastic turn for the
worse when Ferrari escapes from prison and sets out to carry out his threat
to kill Simon. In three days, the actor who testified against the vengeful
hoodlum will be a dead man...
© James Travers
The above content is owned by filmsdefrance.com and must not be copied.