"La Louve solitaire" was first a series of novels,then a comic strip ,which ,like "Diabolik" was "strictly for adults " before being transferred to the screen for a movie which seems more appreciated abroad than in its native France .
André Saint-Aube ,who created the character ,was probably inspired by Louis Feuillade's heroine ,Musidora ,who,in "les Vampires" (1915),wandered on the roofs of Paris in black tights ;on the other hand,as an user pointed out,Luc Besson was certainly inspired by the beginning of the movie (La Louve framed and forced to work for the government) to create "Nikita" .
The plot ,which deals with drug traffickers ,is banal.Francis Lai's score sometimes bears more than a distant resemblance to that of James Bond ,and sometimes falls into schmaltz ,which predates his "love story" music which charted high everywhere.
The late sixties saw the rise of woman's lib ,and this heroine displayed a firm independence of men;and a woman who performed acrobatics ,complete with flying trapeze ,to achieve her aims,at that! Danielle Gaubert was a shooting star of the French cinema :she began her career with directors from the old age (Autant-Lara and Carné ) ;then her good looks led her to pose for soft-porn magazines ;after her marriage to ski champion Killy ,she gave up acting in 1972 and sadly died of cancer in the eighties .
Her pairing with highly talented Michel Duchaussoy ,in a part of an agent capable of reading on the lips ,is a good thing :the moments when they enjoy French breakfasts display a good chemistry between them,and that,without a single kiss!Notice that at the end of the movie ,La Louve cannot eat croissants anymore.This little detail means a lot.Duchaussoy,who recently passed away ,was a favorite of Claude Chabrol ("Que La Bete Meure) and Alain Jessua (with whom he made several movies including "Traitement De Choc").The cast also features Sacha Pitoëff ("L Année Dernière A Marienbad") as a chic villain.
The movie was not a big success,perhaps because of the macho audience,and there was no sequel.
