Tough guy Lino Ventura gets mixed up with a gang of piratical gunrunners in the Caribbean, along with a sexy heiress (Sylva Koscina) whose yacht they've stolen, and the heiress's ex-husband. What it boils down to is a prolonged stand-off between Ventura and the bad guys aboard the stranded yacht.
Given his later work, it's hard to believe Claude Sautet used to make this kind of film. Nevertheless, he proves himself highly adept at the genre, setting up the action scenes with great efficiency. In one terrific sequence, Ventura is dragging the boat's anchor along the sea bed, periodically coming up for air while a marksman is taking potshots at him from the shore. Impressive, too, is the way Sautet fleshes out even the minor characters to give them more depth than you would expect in a movie of this sort.
Given his later work, it's hard to believe Claude Sautet used to make this kind of film. Nevertheless, he proves himself highly adept at the genre, setting up the action scenes with great efficiency. In one terrific sequence, Ventura is dragging the boat's anchor along the sea bed, periodically coming up for air while a marksman is taking potshots at him from the shore. Impressive, too, is the way Sautet fleshes out even the minor characters to give them more depth than you would expect in a movie of this sort.