Noir Chronicles: The Rackets

 

TOUCHEZ PAS AU GRISBI (HONOR AMONG THIEVES) (1954) (B+) - Suave and stylish describes not only this classic French noir but also its dapper lead gangster, Max, trying to secure the last big score that will set him up for retirement. Of course, there are a couple of younger dames -- dancers -- who keep him and his pal, Riton, company. 

However, Max (Jean Gabin) thinks too much about making sure Riton (Rene Dary) gets taken care of. Max sets his friend up for a score with the shady Angelo (Lino Ventura), who happens to be making time with Riton's gal, Josy (a young Jeanne Moreau). And Angelo soon figures out that Riton would make for good leverage to interrupt Max's completion of the fencing of the gold bars, Max's ticket to retirement. 

Director Jacques Becker, adapting a novel with two other writers, has a thoroughbred in Gabin, who imbues Max with a laissez-faire attitude -- toward his career, toward the other ne'er-do-wells, and toward randy Lola (Dora Doll). There is a sense of fatalism about Max from the start; you know this probably won't end well, but you're not sure whether he'll make his great escape. A final kinetic shoot-out is well-staged, and, in noir fashion, not only do shadows get cast, but there's a gloomy shadow cast over the entire gripping 83 minutes.

FORCE OF EVIL (1948) (B) - John Garfield big-foots around this snappish drama about a ruthless lawyer trying to make a killing in the numbers rackets as they transition to legitimacy. However his reckless behavior might bring down the numbers operation of his low-level estranged brother.

The plot is a little too densely woven, but the trick is just to prowl along with Garfield, who barks a lot as Joe Morse, who works for the king of the numbers racket, Ben Tucker (Roy Roberts). He comes up with a scheme to combine operations and put his frumpy brother, Leo (Thomas Gomez), in charge of it. But Leo has a bum heart and a conscience -- he doesn't want to rock the boat -- and his loyal crew can't abide the scheme. 

This is written and directed by Abraham Polonsky (1969's "Tell Them Willie Boy Is Here"), who stuffs some intellectual ideas into his characters' snappy dialogue, and sometimes that comes off as distracting. He has an assured visual sense, sometimes breaking the frame up into different angles and shades, especially during a climactic confrontation shot at shoe level.

Garfield flickers with a modern sensibility, especially when Joe is trying to woo one of Leo's employees, innocent Doris (Beatrice Pearson), toying with her half the time and pining for her the other half. But Doris is just a distraction to Joe, who is more turned on by corruption and is determined to be the kingmaker who emerges with the most money and power. Besides, Joe has Tucker's wife (the slinky Marie Windsor) on the side, so he's not hurting for female attention.

BONUS TRACK

Here's a montage from "Touchez Pas"; do I detect the seedlings of "The Godfather" theme in its theme song?