"Le Cur sur la main" is one of those (too) numerous underrated films that (too) many people watch with the prejudice that their directors are mere hacks and their works nothing but worthless commercial crap. Such a judgment may correspond to reality when it applies to such low grade makers as Henri Lepage, Emile Couzinet, Walter Kapps or Jean Loubignac. But few are those who realize the qualities of gems like "Tête blonde" by Maurice Cam, "One Does Not Die That Way" by Jean Boyer or Jean Delannoy's "Aux yeux du souvenir", among many others. Not that Cam, Boyer and Delannoy make ONLY good films, but when they do, it is unfair not to acknowledge or even just to SEE it. The same injustice is done to Berthomieu when critics lump together fine works like "Le mort en fuite" or "Les nouveaux riches" and bombs like "The Chocolate Girl" or "Love in Jamaica".
So, if you are willing to see "Le Cur sur la main" for what it actually is, you will not be disappointed.
Don't expect too much from the plot though ; it is nothing more than the clichéd story of the naive country man lured to the big city by a femme fatale and rejected by her after she has manipulated him and extorted money from him. The interest lies elsewhere. First things first, this is a well-made little film. Not in the same league as "Citizen Kane" or "The Battleship Potemkin" naturally but it is filmed and edited carefully, two shots at least displaying distinguished talent (the lateral tracking shot on the old church ladies gossiping against Léon and the latter's sorry return to the village expressed cinematically by means of the depth of field). The actors are well directed and Michèle Philippe, a little known actress, shines as Mary Pinson, the realist singer. She is a beautiful and elegant woman with a winning smile and a natural laughter, she sings well (I may be mistaken but I do not think she is dubbed) and has a wide range of expression (she can skip without effort from spontaneity to calculation, from friendliness to scorn). It is regrettable as an aside that no important directors (except Jean Renoir) took an interest in her, that she appeared in no other major film than "French Cancan" and that she died in oblivion at the early age of 46. She could have been a great lady of French cinema, which unfortunately never happened. Be it as it may, she is excellent in "Le coeur sur la main" and carries much of the film's seduction. Into the bargain, the song she sings, "But When I Hear The Accordion", is also a success ; designed as a slight parody of a traditional realist song in the style of Damia or Fréhel, it so well crafted and performed that it is not far from being a classic of the genre. Also interesting is Berthomieu showing us the Rue de Lappe as it looked in the post-war period, a rather shabby and drab street you would not spontaneously associate with the exhilaration generated by the famous French "bals-musette".
However the main value of what would other have been a standard comedy is the outstanding performance of the wonderful Bourvil. Not only does he display here his various talents (he acts, sings, dances, plays the accordion) from the first shot to the last but he really inspires and transcends the whole project. For isn't the basis of the script (a villager who is considered a simpleton by all discovers he can make people laugh just by being himself) the personal story - with some variations -of André Raimbourg, better known as Bourvil? If "Le coeur sur la main", modest as it is, draws you in it may be because instead of cashing in on Bourvil's success it pays sincere tribute to the art of the brilliant comedian, however young he was at the time. The best evidence of it is this line spoken by Jacques Louvigny in the film : "He is a comedic genius without knowing it. Sincerity, this is what I keep saying, sincerity, even in vaudeville".
So, leave all your biases in the cloakroom and just enjoy this true festival by Bourvil. Not the ultimate masterpiece but a good old little comedy made, as its French title indicates, open-handedly.
