Back to the Wall (1958)
"Le dos au mur" (original title)

Jacques Decrey, an industrialist, finds out that his wife Gloria has a lover. Posing as a man named Berthier, he blackmails her. After a while, Decrey decides to make Yves Normand, a young ... See full summary »

Director:

Edouard Molinaro

Writers:

François Chavane, Frédéric Dard (dialogue),

Stars:

Jeanne Moreau, Gérard Oury, Philippe Nicaud

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Jeanne Moreau	...	Gloria Decrey
Gérard Oury	...	Jacques Decrey
Philippe Nicaud	...	Yves Normand
Claire Maurier	...	Ghislaine
Gérard Buhr	...	Mario
George Cusin
Robert Bazil
Jean Degrave	...	Le bijoutier
Richard Francoeur	...	Un invité
Françoise Honorat
Joëlle Janin
Robert Le Béal	...	Me Lombard, l'avocat
Marguerite Lorne
Micheline Luccioni	...	La postière
Jacques Mancier

Storyline

Jacques Decrey, an industrialist, finds out that his wife Gloria has a lover. Posing as a man named Berthier, he blackmails her. After a while, Decrey decides to make Yves Normand, a young unemployed actor and Gloria's lover, out to be the blackmailer. But doing so he has set off an infernal machine...

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Plot Keywords:

based on novel

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Genres:

Crime | Drama

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Details

Country:

France

Language:

French

Release Date:

7 March 1958 (France)

Also Known As:

Back to the Wall

Filming Locations:

Région parisienne, France

Box Office

Budget:

FRF 80,000,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Société Nouvelle des Établissements Gaumont (SNEG)

Technical Specs

Runtime:

93 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Michèle Morgan was first considered but she stepped out not willing to play alongside Gérard Oury, she lived with in secret at the time.

User Reviews

Something's lacking here.

Released at the same time as "ascenseur pour l'échafaud" ,both featuring the same actress (Jeanne Moreau),but unlike Louis Malle's work,not labelled "nouvelle vague" "le dos au mur" has enough assets to catch the viewer's attention:outside Moreau,a screenplay adapted from a Frederic Dard 's Novel,with an action packed ending,and the desperate mood we find in every Dard-inspired film noir :such Moreau lines as "I could not live without him anymore,but I could not stand life without him "is the hero's only solace before his fate is sealed.

Gerard Oury who would direct such French blockbusters as "le corniaud" (1964) and "la grande vadrouille" (1966) is not much of an actor and his part should have been given to Robert Hossein,the par excellence Dard actor.Besides ,the screenplay which uses the long flashback one more time(one too many) laboriously progresses in the first half,with a much too slow pace.Worth a try all the same.