Review of Impasse des deux anges

Having seen a very imperfect print of "Dedee d'Anvers", the film which made Simone Signoret a star, I was delighted to find an excellent, subtitled print of "Impasse", her next film, on YouTube. It was the last work of Maurice Tourneur, and I'd never heard of it before, but although he's less well-known than his son Jacques these days, he was obviously a master director. The film will be a revelation to those who've only seen Signoret's later performances, when she was puffy and encased in fat, a decline her grandson attributed to drink. Here she's young, slim and beautiful. She plays Marianne, an actress about to abandon a successful career to marry an aristocrat. Why is a mystery, as although Marcel Herrand was one of the great screen villains in "Les Enfants du Paradis" his character here is a dull stick. He's never told her he loves her, his snobbish social circle puts her down, and most ominous of all he tells her he aims to mould her. Most women would run a mile. Enter Paul Meurisse as Jean, who was the love of her life until he disappeared years ago. It turns out he was and is a criminal (though she had no idea) and his absence was due to a prison sentence. He's been hired by a gang to steal a priceless necklace the marquis has given Marianne, because he's a master cracksman, described as a virtuoso. His expertise was hardly needed, as her safe must be the quickest and easiest to open safe ever seen in movies. Marianne abandons her aristo and takes off for a nostalgic night with Jean. Again the attraction is baffling as, like Marcello Pagliero in "Dedee" and Delon in way too many films, Meurisse seemed to think a face as frozen as Buster Keaton's signifies toughness. They visit the eponymous street, where the hotel where they used to make love is a wreck, and where they meet a delightful young Daniele Delorme and a young man who's watched too many gangster films. Making the trip less than idyllic are the gang, angry that Jean has failed to hand over the necklace. Signoret and Meurisse went on to make two classics, Clouzot's "Les Diaboliques" and Melville's "L'Armee des Ombres." This film isn't in the same league, but it is most enjoyable, and I loved the way Marianne and Jean's young selves appear as ghost-like figures. As others have noted the ending will resonate with those who have seen "L'Armee."