L'étoile du Nord

Considering the main cast (Philippe Noret, Simone Signoret) and other names involved (music by Philippe Sarde, story by Georges Simenon), "L'Etoile Du Nord" has to rank as a major disappointment: talky, plodding, interminable. This is short-story material obviously padded to over two hours! It probably takes longer to watch the film than to read the book. But it IS handsomely photographed (especially during the Egyptian flashbacks) and beautifully acted; Noiret gives another masterful performance as a man who tells so many tall tales, and does it so charmingly, that even he doesn't know what's true and what's not anymore. ** out of 4.