Le Feu aux poudres (1957)
Directed by Henri Decoin

Film Review

From the mid-1950s, Henri Decoin's output as a director showed a marked decline which reached its absolute nadir in a series of trashy B-movie thrillers he made in the early 1960s, exemplified by Nick Carter va tout casser (1964).  Le Feu aux poudres isn't quite as dismal as Decoin's valedictory films but it is nearer to these than it is to his earlier, far more inspired forays into film noir, such as Le Bienfaiteur (1942), L'Homme de Londres (1943) and La Fille du diable (1946).  The film at least boasts a distinguished cast but this cannot make up for its third-rate script, which has the protagonists standing (or sitting) still and merely spitting reams of vacuous dialogue at each other for what seems like the entire duration of the film.

The plot is pedestrian to a fault, the characters shallow archetypes, so it's no wonder that both Decoin and his illustrious cast seem to be suffering from an acute case of motivational bypass.  Peter Van Eyck and Raymond Pellegrin (two actors of no mean talent) look so bored you can't help wishing someone would just put them out of their misery, Françoise Fabian is completely wasted in the most thankless of roles, and in only one scene - the one where Charles Vanel is humorously intimidated by Lino Ventura - do we get what may legitimately be termed a performance.  On the plus side, the film is attractively shot and things do liven up a little in the final reel, but by that stage you've probably given up on it.  Le Feu aux poudres is just too dull, static and lacking in incident to hold the attention, let alone leave a lasting impression. For a film with such a distinguished cast it is hard to imagine how anyone could have ended up delivering such a dull and inconsequential film as this.

Film Synopsis

At the request of Albatrasse, Ludovic orders a large consignment of rifles from Pedro Wassewich, a notorious gunrunner.  Pedro lives with his wife Lola in a villa, the basement of which is filled with armaments.  Lola wants to leave her husband and tries to have an affair with Ludovic, but he resists because he wants nothing to get in the way of the operation.  Ludovic, Pedro and Lola pay a visit to a man named Jeff who will transport the guns by ship the next night.  Abatrasse is suddenly arrested by the police and everyone thinks there is a traitor in their midst...