Au coeur de la Casbah

A parboiled cross between "Phaedra" and "Pepe Le Moko " might strike horror into one heart.

It was Pierre Cardinal's debut as a director and his depiction of the casbah is not bad ,mainly in the first part;in the final chase,obviously strongly inspired by Duvivier's classic ,it is a pale reflection.He cannot compare favorably with one of the greatest French artists' directing.

The story deals with the problems of an aging woman,Maria-Pilar(Vivianne Romance ,the star of Duvivier' s "Panique" and "La Belle Equipe",both French classics),who does not love her husband anymore but who wants a child to fill the emptiness of her life ;she no longer invokes the Greek divinities ,but she firmly puts her faith in Virgin Mary.

Enter her stepson,Michel,who stayed in France for eight years ,suffering from TB.He is a pure young man,believing in true love ;he is portrayed by Claude Laydu (Bresson's "Journal D'Un Curé DE Campagne"the year before)):the role was tailor made for him:shy,chaste,not exactly handsome,but bursting with innocence and longing for a romantic love .Like Phaedra,the step-mom falls head over heels in the love with the boyish young man and tragedy cannot be stopped anymore : her mad passion shows when she lies on Michel's cushions ,to feel his warmth and his smell.

Michel has found love with a young girl ,Sylvie ,and the husband is released from jail .The moments on the beach are the only sunny side of a dark movie.

Badly edited (or were scenes lost or cut?),the result is so so,sometimes verging on ridicule.