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Restauration vue sur ARTE, soirée Julien Duvivier.

A simple but effective criminal film, from the p.o.v of the criminals, surfing on the post-war atmosphere. Following the early diving among "normal" people, the slow setup / mechanic leading to the famous hunt after the scapegoat is the main appeal of a well made movie.
Here, it is a naively romantic and helpful man, but also haughty and slightly antisocial under the benevolent traits of Michel Simon, who will be the victim of criminals and the masses' unfunded animosity. Too bad that the film doesn't make the man, Hire, as creepy as he is supposed to be in-story, thus never misleading the audience into becoming part of the crowd or giving too much belief to the rumor. On the other hand, Alice, part of the central couple, is given some ambiguity as Hire's object of desire and bait. All of this contributes to make the film a good portrait of society.

Pretty good transformation of the sport audience into a hord toward the end. But like most of the dialogue and scenes, it has no subtlety at all, something that might scare today's audience away..

Score: 7/10
Enjoyment: 3/5
An interesting transformation of a crime book .

It was hard to not constantly compare it with Monsieur Hire, wich was more often interesting to me than this earlier adaptation of the same Simenon novel thanks to its characters, actors and entirely différent aim and genre (more of a character observation). For example, Hire is more direct here, the film having little interest in him.