on 12/8/2025, 10:59 am
As CinemaRetro's Raymond Benson notes, the new set from Kino is rather random, and as a collection winds up being rather diffuse--such is likely going to be the case when they have to work with the random, diffuse holdings of the various French studios in control of digital releases (and screening licenses).
From the vantage point of your resident French noir expert, three of the four films here a solid, second-level achievements. Benson is a little more in love with the early Ventura vehicle LA FAUVE EST LACHE than might be justified, but it is still more than worth a look even if it pales in comparison with Lino's other 1959 starring efforts (UN TEMOIN DANS LA VILLE and 125 RUE MONTMARTRE).
It's pleasing to note that Benson is not overawed by the star power of the early Jean-Paul Belmondo, who really doesn't show much depth until he plays against type in Melville's LEON MORIN. LES DISTRACTIONS is a bit all over the map, constructed primarily to accentuate Belmondo's appeal for the opposite sex.
Benson rightly saves his praise for LA MORT DE BELLE, Edouard Molinaro's best early noir, a film that deserves the Criterion treatment. (There is evidently a good Max Allen Collins commentary track accompanying this release.) For those not going to click through, here is Benson's description of it.
Finally, ranked at “number one,” is a title that is worth the price of the entire set. The Passion of Slow Fire (La mort de Belle, or simply, Belle) from 1961, is directed by Édouard Molinaro, who, eighteen years later, would be nominated for an Oscar for directing the original La Cage aux Folles. It is based on a novel by Georges Simenon, and adapted by the terrific playwright, Jean Anouilh. Considering the source material, the writing, and the man at the helm, one can see that this title might be a cut above the rest, and it is.
The picture stars Jean Desailly, who would later headline Truffaut’s The Soft Skin, as Stéphane, a French language teacher at a Swiss school. He is married and lives a quiet, rather subdued life. The couple has taken in a boarder, Belle (the lovely Alexandra Stewart), the daughter of a school friend of Christine, Stéphane’s wife (Monique Mélinand). One night, Belle is murdered in her bedroom at the home while Christine is out playing bridge with friends—but Stéphane is in the house, asleep in his bedroom. Naturally, he becomes the number one suspect.
The film then becomes not only a whodunit murder mystery, but also a psychological tale of suspense, focusing on the secrets of not only Belle, but Stéphane himself. The picture is riveting from start to finish, with a final twenty minutes that ventures into a twist of the narrative that few might suspect coming.
Jean Desailly had a long and varied career, and it is disconcerting to see the knee-jerk supplication to the New Wave as the only reference to his distinguished filmography, beginning with his auspicious film debut in the Occupation-era "nest of vipers" noir LE VOYAGEUR DE LA TOUSSAINT (1943). Benson doesn't quite make it clear how much of LA MORT DE BELLE's success hinges on Desailly, but it's heartening to see the overall level of appreciation he displays for it. (Too bad it is not available separately...)
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