Die Gerechten oder die Ballade von der weißen Weste

After working with the past masters of the French cinema (Renoir, Duvivier, Decoin ,Clouzot) and even Hitchcock ("the man who know too much " 1st version),Pierre Fresnay had the most dismal end of career you can think of for a major artist ; at the time,he was more interested is stage acting and his movies suffered accordingly .

Probably influenced by Sacha Guitry ("assassins et voleur" "la poison" ),all the film revolves around a good idea:Fresnay has unfairly spent eighteen months in jail and he obtains a credit for offenses till he really gets what he deserves ( that is to say offenses which are worth eighteen month imprisonment .)

It may sound inept ,but Guitry would have pulled it off with gusto;although a talented director who made estimable movies , Marc Allégret was not able to rise to the occasion ; even the cast and credits imitate Guitry : it's written backwards and spoken to boot. But the film is incredibly stupid.