Those blondes are not girls but cigarettes blondes(= Virginia cigarette) :so don't be fooled ,it's not about white slave trade ,it's about cigarette smuggling ;the movie begins with a long depiction of Tanger,Morocco and Marseille,France .
One of the tycoon of the cigarettes traffic is induced to collaborate with the police because there are guys who work in another more dangerous field : heroin .
Michel Auclair as a smug buck is not enthusing at all ;an excellent actor when he's directed by giants (Clouzot's "Manon" ,Duvivier's "la fête à Henriette" ,Donen's "funny face ") or estimable directors (Delannoy 's "Maigret et l'affaire Saint-Fiacre" Deval's "l'invité du mardi" ) ,he's undistinguished when a drudge makes a film noir ersatz with a trite script , complete with music hall acts as the obligatory filler.
The only reason why this was restored (with difficulties :did they have to bother?) is the color process (gevacolor)-new for the time- and because Michel Audiard wrote the lines :some are not bad,but most of them are below par ;one can save the last one though.
One of the tycoon of the cigarettes traffic is induced to collaborate with the police because there are guys who work in another more dangerous field : heroin .
Michel Auclair as a smug buck is not enthusing at all ;an excellent actor when he's directed by giants (Clouzot's "Manon" ,Duvivier's "la fête à Henriette" ,Donen's "funny face ") or estimable directors (Delannoy 's "Maigret et l'affaire Saint-Fiacre" Deval's "l'invité du mardi" ) ,he's undistinguished when a drudge makes a film noir ersatz with a trite script , complete with music hall acts as the obligatory filler.
The only reason why this was restored (with difficulties :did they have to bother?) is the color process (gevacolor)-new for the time- and because Michel Audiard wrote the lines :some are not bad,but most of them are below par ;one can save the last one though.