Hans le marin

This movie came ten or fifteen years too late ;its atmosphere is that of the years before WW2,with shades of "Quai Des Brumes " and "Pépé Le Moko" (the gates at the harbor are pure "Pépé").Jean -Pierre Aumont,one of the romantic young leads of the thirties ("Lac Aux Dames" "Hotel Du Nord" ),plays a tough Canadian sailor called Eric (Why Hans the sailor?well see the movie and you'll know why)whose ship puts in at Marseille.What does a sailor do in these circumstances?He looks for girls and ,you would never guess it ,he meets the women of his dreams ,a beauty called Dolores(Maria Montez) .It's a mirage ,for the girl is only in it for the money.But he hangs on to his dream.It's his downfall and although a generous gypsy (German Lilli Palmer ,a highly talented actress who is totally miscast) reads in the cards the sad fate that awaits him and tries to save him in spite of himself ,the die is cast.

If you want to know the etymology of the word "tzigane" ,it is the film to watch:it means ,should we believe Tania,"liar" and it dates back a very long time ,when Jesus Christ was crucified.

Aumont wrote the dialog ,and he cast his then -wife (and very limited if very attractive actress) as the femme fatale ;as she has little to do ,she's pretty good.It's one of the two movies Montez made in France,the other one being "Portrait D'Un Assassin",a more successful attempt at a film noir