This is pure escapist stuff:made during the occupation days, it was obviously made to take people's mind off things ,and it was highly successful,one of those dark days' biggest blockbuster.Divorced from the harsh realities of 1943,it is an entertaining movie,particularly the first hour .
A self-important wealthy young man (Raymond Rouleau ,who was compared to Cary Grant in this movie)is always priding on his courage and it gets on his friends' nerves;they decide to teach him a lesson by simulating a burglary in his desirable mansion .
Our hero,Pierre Trevoux , boasts he could be a hero, fearless and courageous,if by any chance, adventure beckoned to him.The first scene takes place on a luxury liner deck ,but it's only a stage setting :Pierre and his friend are actually in a nightclub called "La Croisière " (the cruise) ."All is fake in here but the bill"!
After an assault at night ,from which Pierre emerges victorious, his vanity knows no bounds ;that's why his pals (two of them serving as foils to him
anyway) simulate a robbery in his desirable mansion and one of his girlfriends' (Arlette) kidnapping .Pierre actually believes this to be a genuine adventure ....and doesn't know,has no idea at all, that he is led up the garden path all the way.
Of course nothing will happen as expected when true gangsters enter the scene :but Pierre will show remarkable resiliency and,yep, courage ,in transforming himself from a laughing stock to a damsel in distress's rescuer,and a precious police's assistant ...even though nothing must be taken seriously .
The female star ,Michèle Alfa ,is cast against type as the "villain " and also sings the eponymous song of the movie.
