"Sursis Pour Un Vivant" is a B french-Italian film noir adapted from a very interesting and original book by André Maurois, the french academician.
After a missed suicide, Jean Monnier (Henri Vidal) gets invited in a palace by Borcher (Lino Ventura) who arranges soft deaths for suicidal people. When Borcher plays an obsessional tune on piano, harmo or record, everybody knows that the same night, a member of the Palace will be softly killed.
Victor Merenda's direction has no invention and lacks tension and madness. Lino Ventura's character is very impressive but would have needed more strength, but yet he has some threatening and sadistic looks toward his victims, meaning "will you be the next one?" with a not so hidden sadistic smile.
Yes, this movie definitely lacks madness. Borcher's character is too much reserved until the amazing ending. I discovered this movie and was puzzled by this completely stupendous ending showing a too much violent Lino Ventura. I found a small poster representing the mad Lino and put it on my wall. And 15 years later, I needed to see again very mad Lino. I saw it on a channel specialized in thrillers : there wasn't the ending engraved in my memory. At the same time, I bought the DVD just released in the collection "the invisible of french cinema" : and still no right ending. In fact, both prints lacks 4 minutes : why? Were those four minutes showing an insane Lino Ventura deranging and censured? I found no answers. And now I think I must have dreamed those four minutes, but my poster shows that scene. And I'm still looking for an old tape of that strange movie, I really want to see again very mad Lino, and find why this ending was censored. Unless I really dreamed, none of my cinephilic friends remember that ending... Time will tell...
There is another version of André Maurois's story in the "Alfred Hitchcock Hour". I haven't seen it but the IMDb reviewers are not very enthusiastic. Other TV versions do not seem available except the 2006 version, "Thanatos", directed by georgian Otar Bubashvili and Bakur Lashkarava which has a very enthusiastic review.
After a missed suicide, Jean Monnier (Henri Vidal) gets invited in a palace by Borcher (Lino Ventura) who arranges soft deaths for suicidal people. When Borcher plays an obsessional tune on piano, harmo or record, everybody knows that the same night, a member of the Palace will be softly killed.
Victor Merenda's direction has no invention and lacks tension and madness. Lino Ventura's character is very impressive but would have needed more strength, but yet he has some threatening and sadistic looks toward his victims, meaning "will you be the next one?" with a not so hidden sadistic smile.
Yes, this movie definitely lacks madness. Borcher's character is too much reserved until the amazing ending. I discovered this movie and was puzzled by this completely stupendous ending showing a too much violent Lino Ventura. I found a small poster representing the mad Lino and put it on my wall. And 15 years later, I needed to see again very mad Lino. I saw it on a channel specialized in thrillers : there wasn't the ending engraved in my memory. At the same time, I bought the DVD just released in the collection "the invisible of french cinema" : and still no right ending. In fact, both prints lacks 4 minutes : why? Were those four minutes showing an insane Lino Ventura deranging and censured? I found no answers. And now I think I must have dreamed those four minutes, but my poster shows that scene. And I'm still looking for an old tape of that strange movie, I really want to see again very mad Lino, and find why this ending was censored. Unless I really dreamed, none of my cinephilic friends remember that ending... Time will tell...
There is another version of André Maurois's story in the "Alfred Hitchcock Hour". I haven't seen it but the IMDb reviewers are not very enthusiastic. Other TV versions do not seem available except the 2006 version, "Thanatos", directed by georgian Otar Bubashvili and Bakur Lashkarava which has a very enthusiastic review.