Mauvaise graine

First thing to bear in mind is that it's a collaboration Wilder/Esway.Esway was a minor FRench director whose best film is perhaps his old-fashioned but charming "Education de Prince" starring Louis Jouvet.

Of course Billy Wilder became one of the greatest directors in history but many of his fans might be disappointed.The seeds of the works to come are here but they are few and far between Of course the "statistics" and the voice-over heralds the prologue of "the seven years itch" These two-bit gangsters are the forerunners of those we would find in "some like it hot".

The greybeard who tries to seduce Jeanette and has his car stolen already displays that Wilder's tendency to turn "moral" something which is not ("Kiss me stupid" "Avanti") But the best gag remains the brat putting a stolen license plate on his car .

The ending does not convince since it's finally very dramatic ;but all in all,it was the classic ending of the French movie of that era: going somewhere else.

NB:When Wilder was working in Paris,Richard Pottier was making at about the same time his "Fanfare d'Amour" which would inspire ( check the screenplays ) BW's own "Some like it hot".