Henri Verneuil ("The Burglars," "The 25th Hour") displays his finesse with this early accomplishment, 1957's "Killer for a Killer" (AKA: "Une Mannche et la Belle") starring Henri Vidal and Mylene Demongeot (Otto Preminger's "Bonjour Tristesse"). Based on an somewhat obscure novel by James Hadley Chase titled appropriately "The Sucker Punch," the well crafted screenplay by Verneuil, Francois Boyer and Annette Wademmant is so skillfully directed and acted (I am sure audiences would be more familiar with Vidal today as he consistently worked consistently since the forties until he died at the age of forty not long after this film was released. Demongeot may have had more notoriety to her name today, but she amounted to little more than a poor man's Bardot. But they are both good here with Isa Miranda playing the rich older woman they conspire to kill, with several twists and the much fore-shadowed, but devastating "sucker punch" provided by the great handling of the plot. Verneuil is definitely a director to look out as he consistently delivers from what I've seen from him so far. Also outstanding is the music by Paul Durand, cinematography by Christian Matras and the editing by Louisette Hautecoeur. The copy I saw had been provided with a great transfer to DVD by Rene Château Video and Cinedis. A real diamond! But you know they CAN be found "in the rough."
Review of A Kiss for a Killer
