To all intents and purposes this is a Claude Autant-Lara film, the Producer, Lehman, in a touch of the Irving Mills' gave himself a director credit (Irving Mills was a music publisher who used to 'cut himself in' on songs written by Duke Ellington). Alas, they chose to utilise Parisian slang which today is not only dated but almost incomprehensible even to provincial French but that is the only cavil. We can overlook the plot - Fernandel is, to put it kindly, naive or, as we would say today, not streetwise; he's an assistant to a jeweller, a quality which hooker Arletty immediately finds more appealing than good manners, charm, handsomeness and given that Marcel (Fernandel) has had it up to here with the boss's daughter making sheeps' eyes at him he is ripe for 'grooming' as a jewel thief. The third member of the standout trio is Michel Simon as the laziest thief in town. For the rest of the film-going world Jean Gabin was virtually the Only French male actor between the wars which was tough on the likes of Simon, Jules Berry, Julian Carette, Bernard Blier, Charles Vanel etc. Simon in fact earned recognition earlier than Gabin when he played the eponymous Boudu who was saved from drowning by a bookseller who lived to regret it and he more than held his own with Gabin in Quai des Brumes. In short, we watch this today to see three thoroughbreds in their prime and we do not watch in vain. Once again a nod in the direction of Scandinavia without whom ...
Review of Fric-Frac
