Companions of the Night

There's a warning before the cast and credits ,a rather long warning:prostitution is a scourge ,we've got to do something about it,we are going to show prostitution as it really is,the women's plight,warts and all ,blah ,blah ,blah....

It's not really an honest movie as was Henry Decoin's "Razzia Sur La Chnouff" which dealt with another burning subject:drugs.It's a melodrama about whores like so many others in the fifties ,the likes of Leo Joannon ("Le Desert De Pigalle" ) or Maurice Cloche ("Marchands De Filles" "Les Filles De Nuit").No real daring scene ,but a lot of clichés ,notably the hooker-with-a-great-heart (Suzy Prim was so gifted an actress she almost shone in this hackneyed part),the good truck driver and the sadistic pimp (Raymond Pellegrin ,in a part unworthy of himself).

Françoise Arnoul's character is the only one which is not totally cardboard.The story is a long flashback after she shot her pimp down and begins in a way which is not derivative :she depicts a fairytale castle ,a young girl waiting for her prince Charming's coming whereas the pictures -which actually show a gloomy girls reformatory -refute what she is telling.This young girl could earn her living (she's offered a job as a maid in a house ) or even marry the good guy (Pierre Cressoy)but she takes what she thinks is the easy way out.

These dramas of the streets were a common form of French movie in the fifties - MARKET IN WOMEN and the Robert Hossein films and this is easily the pick of the bunch.

Strong cast are shot by the great Roger Hubert, who did films for Carné, and the scripting and production give things an involving texture. Francoise Arnoul. our dream girl of the fifties, is in her element as the corrupted innocent that the action swirls around and there are even some effective dramatic scenes, like the bar confrontation between truck driver Pierre Cressoy and pimp Raymond Pellegrin.

Sleazy or not, something like this obliterated the contemporary British film and even a lot of the material that was getting wider exposure from the US.

The team tried to go again with RAGE AU CORPS with less impact.