Mauvaise graine (1934)

User Rating:

6.6/10   

Directors:

Alexander Esway
Billy Wilder

Writers:

Max Kolpé (screenplay)
H.G. Lustig (screenplay)

Genre:

Drama

Plot:

A young man-about-Paris, cut off from his father's money, falls in with a picaresque gang of car thieves.

Plot Keywords:

Father | Car Theft | Paris France | Doctor

Cast

Danielle Darrieux	...	Jeannette
Pierre Mingand	...	Henri Pasquier
Raymond Galle	...	Jean-la-Cravate
Paul Escoffier	...	Le docteur Pasquier
Michel Duran	...	Le chef
Jean Wall	...	Le zèbre
Marcel Maupi	...	L'homme au panama
Paul Velsa	...	L'homme aux cacahuètes
Georges Malkine	...	Le secrétaire
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Georges Cahuzac	...	Le monsieur
Gaby Héritier	...	Gaby

Also Known As:

Bad Blood
Bad Seed

Runtime:

86 min | USA:77 min

Country:

France

Language:

French

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Filming Locations:

Paris, France

Company:

Compagnie Nouvelle Commerciale

Trivia:

First film directed by Billy Wilder.

Movie Connections:

Version of The First Offence (1936)

The seeds?

First thing to bear in mind is that it's a collaboration Wilder/Esway.Esway was a minor FRench director whose best film is perhaps his old-fashioned but charming "Education de Prince" starring Louis Jouvet.

Of course Billy Wilder became one of the greatest directors in history but many of his fans might be disappointed.The seeds of the works to come are here but they are few and far between Of course the "statistics" and the voice-over heralds the prologue of "the seven years itch" These two-bit gangsters are the forerunners of those we would find in "some like it hot".

The greybeard who tries to seduce Jeanette and has his car stolen already displays that Wilder's tendency to turn "moral" something which is not ("Kiss me stupid" "Avanti") But the best gag remains the brat putting a stolen license plate on his car .

The ending does not convince since it's finally very dramatic ;but all in all,it was the classic ending of the French movie of that era: going somewhere else.

NB:When Wilder was working in Paris,Richard Pottier was making at about the same time his "Fanfare d'Amour" which would inspire ( check the screenplays ) BW's own "Some like it hot".