8/10
A "bloodless" French noir that still delivers
17 April 2014
More "Riviera noir" as Robert Hossein directs and stars in a suspenseful "romantic" thriller that predicts the dysfunctional family dynamics of Robert Aldrich's WHAT EVER HAPPENED TO BABY JANE? a half-decade later.

Canned TV personality Pierre Menda blew his last dime at the Nice casinos and hits the road on foot where he's offered a ride by a mysterious blonde in a white car and mink coat. He can't make out her face in the shadows but it doesn't matter once she pulls over and opens her coat to reveal that's all she's got on. They have sex and when it's over, she kicks him out of the car and tries to run him down but luckily Pierre manages to get the woman's license plate number before she speeds off into the night. This clue eventually leads him to a waterfront mansion where two blonde sisters live, one demure and the other vivacious despite being confined to a wheelchair. Neither one seems likely to be the wanton that raped him but curious nonetheless, he accepts their invitation to stay the night and it's not long before the sisters offer him a job, a place to live, and their love. Uh oh.

A throbbing jazz score and a bitterly ironic twist at the end top off what looks to be a reel family affair: director Hossein adapted his friend Frédéric Dard's pulp novel and co-starred with his wife, Marina Vlady, and sister-in-law Odile Versois. His father, André Hossein, composed the music.
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