Tres crímenes

Gérard Oury,many people often forget it,was first an actor ,before becoming one of the most successful directors (the greatest ,to many);not only he played in plenty of French movies ,but he was also featured in Milestone's "they who dare" and Walsh's "sea devils" (the part of Napoleon).

In France-Soir newspaper,Paul Gordeaux drew comic strips ,which were transferred twice to the screen in 1961: one was "Les Amours Célèbres",directed by Michel Boisrond ;the second was OURY's "crime does not pay" ;both movies were made of sketches ;at least to my eyes,Oury's work has the edge on Boisrond's ;not only he had a dream of a cast ,but he had also some of the best French screenwriters of the time .

The trick Oury uses to open his movie is so smart that I will not reveal it ;it would spoil the surprise :after Cayatte (Les Amants De VERONE" ) and Duvivier ("La Fete A Henriette ) ,Oury simply renewed the "movie in the movie" technique with skill! eat your heart out ,Truffaut!

The first sketch is also the last in this bizarre construction!

Segment 2 :Le Masque or "revenge is a dish best eaten hot "

Edwige Feuillère ,Gabrielle Ferzetti,Rosanna Schiaffino

screenplay by Aurenche and Bost who wrote so many great stories I could not mention them all. From an Italian chronicle by Stendahl .Venice ,fifteenth century: an aging aristocrat 's mirror shows that her beauty is ,slowly but inexorably ,fading away;she's in love with a knight who is also a spy in the pay of the Genois;the lady's brother ,a powerful politician had him throw in a dungeon ;to free him,she reveals her sibling she's her accomplice cause she provides him with information :a scandal may break .To make the matters worse,there's a second aristocrat ,still young and beautiful.

This sketch may be the best of the lot: the settings are sumptuous and Oury outdoes himself in the terrific scene of the trap:sinister- looking figures appear ,one by one,at the end of every dark street of the city ,and the chapel of rest is a Gothic stroke of inspiration to rival the best moments in horror and fantasy movies.

Segment 3: "L'Affaire Hugues " or "a woman with a sense of honor"

Michele Morgan,PHilippe Noiret,Pierre Mondy,Jean Servais ,Lucienne Bogaert

based on the Hugues case circa 1887;to ruin a Deputé 's reputation, they claim that his wife had an extra-marital affair .

A conventional story ,on a vague political background ,but Henri Jeanson's caustic lines hit home when the chic bourgeois lady meets the shady "private eye" and the semi-whore :Jeanson remembers Georges Feydeau Some episodes are told by often genuine caricatures,engravings and testimonial pictures.

Segment 4 :L'Affaire Feynarou or 'to kill two birds with one stone"

Annie Girardot,Pierre Brasseur,Christian Marquand ,Paul Guers.

A man tells his mistress he 's going to get married for the bride 's dowry but that he intends to keep her too ;her husband discovers a compromising letter and threatens to kill the lover;so the wife urges the soon-to-be-married hunk to kill her spouse ("it would be self-defense")

This segment is a thriller,which is not a surprise ,coming from the famous Boileau-Narcejac team("Vertigo" and " Diabolique" );even though the ending is predictable,their story is full of unexpected twists and could have been part of the "Alfred Hitchcock presents " series.

Segment 1 (and 5!):"L'Homme de L'Avenue " or "accidents will happen"

Danielle Darrieux ,Richard Todd,Perrette Pradier.

A man ,who wants to commit the perfect crime (and to fly away with his lover) ,secures an irrefutable alibi;but you can't think of everything ;the "alibi",anEnglish driver ,an officer in uniform, plays the occasional Hercule,Poirot..

Written by Frederic Dard ,who teamed up with Oury for his second (and very good) effort "La menace" , it's another excellent thriller,with a great final unexpected twist which shows a witty humor,far from San Antonio,but there's no accounting for taste !

A (good) omen: Louis De Funès appears (yes,he does!) in this last segment ,his English (his Franglais more like) is riotously funny ...tO think that Oury/De Funès ,along with Bourvil,were about to dominate the French all-time box-office with their triumphs :"LE Corniaud " "La Grande Vadrouille" "Rabbi Jacob ,etc ...

These blockbusters outstripped "crime does not pay" which is a very entertaining work and certainly deserves to be (re)discovered by his fans (not only them!).

"Crime Does Not Pay" is a VERY long sit (153 minutes), but it does contain some genuine surprises. It's a 4-episode film: the 1st episode is a lushly produced Venetian period tale of multiple passions - and revenge; Rosanna Schiaffino is astonishing in a supporting role. The 2nd is a shockingly timely tale of defamation and character assassination - actually timelier now, in the internet / fake news era, than when the film was made; Michele Morgan is marvelous. The 3rd is a twisty if overextended showcase for femme fatale Annie Girardot. The 4th offers a rare chance to see a maturely sexy Danielle Darrieux doing comedy; it has some startling moments. Overall the film is definitely worth watching, but you may feel the need to break it down into more than one sittings. **1/2 out of 4.

No review for this rediscovered gem directed by Gérard Oury is a mystery. Wonderfully written by Jeanson, Aurenche, Bost, Tachella, brilliantly photographed by Christian Matras (who always sublimated graphically scripts already intelligent), great cast perfectly directed by Gérard Oury (Brasseur, Girardot, Servais, Noiret, Marquand, de Funès and what a gift for his wife Michèle Morgan in great danger).

This movie is another amazing brainstorming of Great French Cinematographic Artisans, each sketch has some powerful scenes. The only fault in this movie is the last sketch written by Frederic Dard who has less talent than the previous screenwriters. Anyway, this Gérard Oury gem is Pure French Cinema.

I don't know if that early Oury's movie worked, but if not, I suggest distributors to release in a dozen theatres in France this talented Crime Ne Paie Pas, I'm sure it would nicely score and become a new hit by Gérad Oury, even if not a comedy.

Beautiful actresses and handsome men in sumptuous sets and costumes act out four tales of lust, treachery and murder – one in quattrocento Venice drawn from Stendhal and the other three in Paris in the 1880s, 1913 and 1961. All in a frame story which morphs into the fourth episode, recounted tensely in almost real time. Some good writing evident, particularly in the third episode from the celebrated pair of Boileau and Narcejac to whom we owe both "Diaboliques" and "Vertigo", and classical acting in delivery and posture. The second episode in the 1880s, based on a real life case, is given an extra illusion of authenticity with spoof caricatures echoing those in newspapers of the time.

The picture as a whole exhibits intelligent construction, technical flair, and an adult view of the world, centred strongly on the desirable but manipulative women around whom the men revolve. There is even very brief profanity and nudity. All very different from the direction Oury took in his next highly enjoyable but undemanding films, aimed successfully at general audiences. In this work there is little explicit humour, apart from a fun cameo by Louis de Funès, whose efforts at talking English make him unintelligible, and some nice moments from Danielle Darrieux being charmingly drunk. It also features an English officer, here played by Richard Todd whose French is accented but excellent, an idea Oury used again with Terry-Thomas in "La Grande Vadrouille" and David Niven in "Le Cerveau".

Apart from the usual anachronism that in the three historical episodes hairstyles and make-up remain all too close to 1962, no complaints about a film which really ought to raise Oury's critical reputation posthumously.