Eddie Constantine was a US citizen who spent most of his life in Europe, mainly in France, and made a name in French B movies. LUCKY JO borders on film noir but with comic touches, such as the first minutes of the film, which see Jo and his fellow felons continually caught in the dragnet of the law. The scene in which they are caught in a lift when they think they are safe is very funny indeed.
There is quite a bit of unnecessary banter in the movie, which is only 55 min long, but the good fun is preserved, and there is a very well done punch-up as Jo determinedly acts as rescuer of a woman who keeps being accosted by men who seem to think the way to her heart is through beating.
The sequence where he drives a little car in breach of all traffic regulations, in the company of a cocker spaniel, to help a member of his gang is also a hoot, except that it ends rather brutally.
Pierre and Claude Brasseur, acting as police officers constantly forfeiting Jo's, and his gang's, plans, are great to watch, and give the film an extra dimension in terms of acting.
LUCKY JO wraps up nicely and, for a B movie, it is worth your time. 7/10
There is quite a bit of unnecessary banter in the movie, which is only 55 min long, but the good fun is preserved, and there is a very well done punch-up as Jo determinedly acts as rescuer of a woman who keeps being accosted by men who seem to think the way to her heart is through beating.
The sequence where he drives a little car in breach of all traffic regulations, in the company of a cocker spaniel, to help a member of his gang is also a hoot, except that it ends rather brutally.
Pierre and Claude Brasseur, acting as police officers constantly forfeiting Jo's, and his gang's, plans, are great to watch, and give the film an extra dimension in terms of acting.
LUCKY JO wraps up nicely and, for a B movie, it is worth your time. 7/10