Sinners of Paris

Pierre Chenal's only claim to fame remains "le dernier tournant",(1939)historically the first version of "the postman always rings twice"(which will have three more versions).Therefore,the best of his work is to be found in the pre-war years,but even such works as "l'alibi" (1937,with Erich Von Stroheim) are dated now. And nobody seems to care about his chef d'oeuvre "la foire aux chimères"(1946).After an Argentinian career during the war,he came back to France to make undistinguished works the likes of "rafles sur la ville".The plot is very thin : an old and dangerous gangster (Vanel)is on the lam.Two cops are hot on his heels :this is the -relative- originality of the screen play;the two cops team will become a sub genre of the thriller in the last thirty years;and of course,two "different" cops:one is a tough guy(Michel Piccoli),the other one is humane and gives cigarettes to everyone around.Piccoli has a love affair with his colleague's wife -who is some Brigitte Bardot ersatz-. Vanel is betrayed by his lover -a Simone Signoret ersatz-.And that is what the film is : a film noir ersatz.