Gueule d'ange

Plot : Philippe's charm and sex appeal have earned him the nickname of "Gueule D'Ange " (=angel face); he's just walked out on his latest lover who 's said to him she was pregnant .In a café,a man tells him his mistress made a fool of him ;in order to save male honor, Philippe decides to seduce this woman and to make her suffer .But Loïna is a shady antique dealer,who loves mink coats,jewels and money more than men; so she uses her lover to lure wealthy female customers and to sell them fake paintings.When his lover runs into financial difficulties, Philippe plans to burglarize the safe of the airport where his half-brother works ; but the latter intends to prevent him from doing so.

A civil version of Jean Grémillon 's "gueule d'amour" (1937) in which military man Jean Gabin made all women turn their head every place he goes but falls for a femme fatale.It's Blistène's wish,but it's Grémillon's reality .Maurice Ronet was a highly talented actor remembered for great works (Malle's "ascenseur pour l'échafaud" ;Clément's "plein soleil" ),but the paucity of the screenplay and the listlessness of the directing left him to hiss own devices.Ditto for Viviane Romance , one of the bad gals of the golden age ,along with Ginette Leclerc ,ideally cast as the calculating selfish (and aging) woman.Remembering Duvivier's ("panique ") or Lherbier's ("l'affaire du collier de la reine") lessons, she plays her game well .Good supporting from Rosy Varte ,but too short.

Marcel Blistène ,who had already directed a fair biopic of the saint Curé D'Ars , certainly intended to lay stress on the moral side, to keep his hero,in spite of his degenerate ways, on the straight and narrow ;his virtuous half-brother represents the voice of duty: he helps the abandoned lover, he believes in fidelity and he is to marry a decent pretty girl .A two-bit Don Juan , Philippe is bound to fall .