When night falls in Paris

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Movie
German title When night falls in Paris
Original title Touchez pas au grisbi
Country of production France , Italy
original language French
Publishing year 1954
length 92 minutes
Age rating FSK 12 (formerly FSK 18)
Rod
Director Jacques Becker
script Albert Simonin
Jacques Becker
Maurice Griffe
production Robert Dorfmann
music Jean Wiener
camera Pierre Montazel
cut Marguerite Renoir
occupation

When Night falls in Paris is a French gangster film directed by Jacques Becker from 1954 with Jean Gabin in the leading role. Lino Ventura made his screen debut in it. Albert Simonin , whose novel served as the template for the film plot, worked alongside the director and Maurice Griffe in writing the screenplay. The original French title means "hands off the coal".

action

The film noir takes place in the Parisian underworld of the 1950s. The two crooks Max and Riton have stolen gold bars worth 50 million francs. Full of high spirits, Riton brags about the deed to the nightclub singer Josy. This turns out to be a fatal mistake, because soon the drug dealer Angelo finds out about it and lies in wait for the two of them. Angelo's followers kidnap Riton in an ambulance and blackmail Max into surrendering the loot. Max is forced to comply with Angelo's request. But for the handover and its preparation, he gets the support of his loyal friends Marco and Pierrot.

After exchanging hostages and gold bars on a lonely country road outside Paris, Angelo's people attacked Max and his friends with explosives from a convertible. Marco is fatally injured. The other three can beat their way into the bushes in time and follow the car with firearms at the ready. They succeed in killing all of the attackers, but Riton suffers a serious gunshot wound in the shooting from counterfire, as a result of which he dies the next day despite medical care.

The death of his longtime friend takes Max deeply. In order not to attract attention in his circle of acquaintances and to avoid arousing suspicion, he arranges to meet his lover Betty for dinner. But sadness and depression are written on his face.

background

The former nightclub “Mystific” in Paris
  • Filming took place between September 21 and December 18, 1953.

The inner-city exterior shots were shot in Paris and the rural ones outside the city gates, near the municipality of Orgeval . Various interior shots were taken in the Boulogne-Billancourt film studios .

  • The nightclub "Mystific" mentioned in the film actually existed in Paris and its entrance area was used for the shooting. The first shot of the film shows the Moulin Rouge in Paris or a replica (recognizable by the windmill blades).
  • In the novel, the author Albert Simonin used terms from the colloquial language of the gangster milieu; for a better understanding he wrote a glossary. The director of the film did not use such jargon in the interests of general intelligibility .
  • The director's son, Jean Becker , was only 15 years old and assisted his father with the shooting. Although director Jacques Becker was highly regarded in the film industry, his film was not shown at the Cannes Film Festival ; in it he probably drew too inglorious a picture of France.
  • The Ave Maria , which accompanies the first scene of the film, is sung by Tino Rossi . The harmonica, whose playing runs like a red thread through the plot, was played by Jean Wetzel (according to the opening credits of the film), accompanied by the composer of the theme, Jean Wiener , and his trio.

Reviews

TV-Spielfilm describes the film as “a masterpiece” that is “exquisitely played and photographed”. In 1955, however, the Protestant Film Observer expressed concerns : “A crime film with exclusively technical and performance qualities. Concerning content and tendency and not suitable for young people. "

literature

  • Albert Simonin, Fred Friedrich Hagen: When night falls in Paris. Desch (1958)
  • Albert Simonin: Touchez pas au grisbi! Gallimard

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Release certificate for When night falls in Paris . Voluntary self-regulation of the film industry (PDF). Template: FSK / maintenance / type not set and Par. 1 longer than 4 characters
  2. ↑ http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0046451/business
  3. ↑ http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0046451/locations
  4. ↑ allocine.fr section "Becker père et fils" (French)
  5. ↑ allocine.fr section “Une image jugée peu flatteuse de la France” (French)
  6. ↑ allocine.fr section "Un thème musical mémorable" (French)
  7. ↑ http://my.tvspielfilm.de/kino/filmarchiv/film/wenn-es-nacht-wird-in-paris,1306824,ApplicationMovie.html
  8. ↑ Ev. Munich Press Association, Review No. 101/1955