Rue de l'estrapade (1953)
Directed by Jacques Becker

Film Review

The commercial failure of Casque d'or (1952) came as a bitter disappointment to director Jacques Becker and led him to return to somewhat safer ground for his next film, a mix of romantic-comedy and melodrama similar to his earlier film, Édouard et Caroline (1951).  This time round, Becker's attempt to imitate the Hollywood 'dramedy' with another bittersweet account of a crumbling marriage falls somewhat flat, owing primarily to a lack of inspiration on the script front and the slight miscasting of Louis Jourdan in the kind of comedy role for which he is not particularly well-suited (he merely ends up looking like a butch Jean-Claude Brialy).

Rue de l'estrapade may not have anything like the inspired touch and emotional engagement of Becker's better films but it still manages to be an enjoyable entertainment, even if the plot feels somewhat directionless and the humour laboured and incongruous.  A subplot involving Jean Servais bizarrely cast as a homosexual couturier is just one of many gratuitous plot digressions that Becker carelessly throws into the narrative, and despite the calibre of the cast none of the characters can legitimately be described as sympathetic.  Although he looks desperately like a fish out of water, Louis Jourdan gives most entertainment value and is far better served by the uneven script than his co-stars Daniel Gélin and Anne Vernon, whose lack of on-screen chemistry greatly diminishes the final part of the film.  Rue de l'estrapade is certainly not Jacques Becker's finest hour but it is far from being a complete washout.

Film Synopsis

Françoise and Henri Laurent appear to be a perfectly happy married couple living in Paris.  But when she learns from a friend that her husband, a racing car test driver, has been seen with another woman, Françoise imagines that her marriage is over.  Without delay, she packs her bags and moves into a garret flat in the Rue de L'Estrapade, in the Latin Quarter.  Here, she falls under the spell of a young musician, Robert, who is more than ready to begin an affair with her.  Henri hasn't given up hope of saving his marriage, but his attempts to visit Françoise and persuade her she is the only woman in his life are constantly thwarted...