La mala semilla

After his father sells his car, Henri "borrows" a stranger's car in order to make a date with a young woman. This act sees him fall foul of a gang of car thieves but after some discussion he joins their gang. Things seem to be going well but he and the boss don't see eye to eye.

Interesting enough French crime-drama. Plot is pretty basic but it is fairly engaging as we follow Henri's adventures and change from law abiding citizen to criminal. One or two good comedic moments too.

The most interesting aspect of this film is that it was Billy Wilder's directorial debut, having received a writing credit for 22 previous films. He would have to wait another eight years for his second, and his first Hollywood film, The Major and the Minor. This was also a fairly unspectacular affair. His third film, Five Graves to Cairo, was better but still didn't give an indication of the masterpieces that were to come. However, his fourth, Double Indemnity (1944) was brilliant and from then on he never looked back.