User Reviews

Recently finding two French Film Noir's which I've kept on the side for years due to them sounding not that interesting, ( Coffin by Post (1957) and Ballad for a Hoodlum (1963)) to be far better, and more thrilling than I ever expected,I decided to view another French Noir I've been keeping on the sidelines for too long. Finding his face rather memorable in Alphaville (1965), I got set to see Eddie Constantine raise hell.

View on the film:

Stamping round like King Tut in Adam West's Batman TV series, Roger Saget steals the movie with his scenery chewing bad guy Moreno bellowing threats to Jordan, and jumping away each time the cops get near. Joined by sexy May Britt and Monique van Vooren at his side as Gina and Irène, Eddie Constantine visibly appears thrilled to play-up his tough-guy image as Jordan, with Constantine cracking bones as hard-nosed Noir loner Jordan with one hand, and rolling out physical Comedy set-pieces and breaking the 4th wall with bursts into song with the other.

His first film after moving to France to live in exile after Edward Dmytryk named him as one of the "Hollywood 10", co-writer/(with Jacques-Laurent Bost/ Jacques Nahum and Henri-François Rey) director John Berry & cinematographer Jacques "The Rules of the Game" Lemare do extremely well in juggling Film Noir grit with a playful comedic streak, thanks to the slap-stick set-pieces, (such as a hilarious bar-room brawl, backed by drunk sailors singing Home on the Range)being pinned down by the stylish firing of knives into the screen and whip-pans towards the sides eyeing those keeping track of Jordan. Drifting into working for Moreno only to get back stabbed, the writers run-up a frantic Film Noir atmosphere due to Jordan having to outrun in order to be ahead of Moreno, in order to turn around and give 'em hell.

The movie begins with a night sequence on a waterfront and its photography could have been John Alton's (with less talent of course, John Alton was unbeatable). The next sequence is with a fat man eating like a pig (Roger Saget, brilliant), a stupid pinup cooking his meals. Then, Eddie arrives in an exotic place, finding an old friend with black curly hair and moustache who looks like Peter Lorre's double in Secret Agent (by sir Hitchcock), with again less talent because plaid by Jean Carmet (quite fatty at that time). There is also another character looking like Mr Moto by Peter Lorre, we musn't forget John Berry directed him in Casbah. There are a lot other references to film noir, I won' tell no more.

It's so sad John Berry hasn't directed more American films noirs (because he was blacklisted). Ca va Barder is his first french film and it is a comic action movie with sometimes pure nostalgia to film noir in the punchiest sequences with dark photography.

So sad Eddie hasn't ever played in a pure film noir, Ca Va Barder being one of its closest approach to the genre (with Lucky Jo).