Review of Non coupable

From Henry Decoin, here is another of his noir masterpieces, just remember "la Fille du diable", "l'Homme de Londres", "Entre 11 heures et minuit", "Razzia sur la chnouf", "Maléfices" among his best (forgive me if I've forgotten titles). "Non coupable" is one of Michel Simon's best movie, I just can't imagine this movie with another actor, he's so brilliant as a desperate loser trying to be a criminal genius to find a reason of living, the exact opposite of Monsieur Hire in "Panique" (shot one year earlier) who is innocent. In "Non Coupable", like in some movies by Duvivier or Dassin, I just can't see any fine character. Really dark as the cinematography by Jacques Lemare. On location, it was shot around Chartres and as many movies shot in a town, it was first shown there (like "Pontcarral" in Angoulême, "le Loup des Malveneurs" in Aurillac, "Jour de Fête" in Sainte Sévère... ). The script by Marc-Gilbert Sauvajon is perfect. I forget the second happy ending, not really satisfying. Sauvajon also wrote the excellent "Vautrin" for Michel Simon (one of his great double character) and of course worked on "la Fille du Diable".

Michel Simon was a true genius, his presence on screen remains for me the toughest ever.

"Non Coupable" belongs to his most productive period with so many masterpieces ("Vautrin", "Un ami viendra ce soir", "Panique", "la Beauté du Diable", "la Poison", "la Vie d'un honnête homme", and I admire "Un certain Monsieur Jo" in which he's again so impressively tough). In 1947, Michel Simon and Henri Decoin worked together for another forgotten masterpiece, "les Amants du Pont Saint-Jean" (with Jacques Lemare again as cinematographer).