La louve solitaire (1968)

User Rating:

5.0/10   

Director:

Edouard Logereau

Writers:

Marcel Jullian (writer)
Edouard Logereau (writer)

Release Date:

16 May 1968 (West Germany)

Genre:

Adventure | Crime

Plot:

Françoise looks like a sexy kitten by day, but is a silent she-wolf by night, making very clever robberies of gold jewels. Despite the interest, and competition, from Bruno, she ends a lonely she-wolf. |

Plot Keywords:

Based On Novel

Cast

Danièle Gaubert	...	Françoise
Michel Duchaussoy	...	Bruno
Julien Guiomar	...	Durieux
Carole Lebel	...	Olga
Albert Simono	...	Evrard (as Simono)
Sacha Pitoëff	...	Saratoga
Rémy Longa	...	Robert
François Maistre	...	Davenport
Maurice Sarfati	...	Silvio
Maurice Teynac	...	Stanmore
B.W. Husson	...	Madame Stanmore
Jacqueline Staup	...	Melissa
Jacques Brunet	...	Hans
Serge Merlin	...	Silvio

Also Known As:

Claws of the Cat (Australia) (video title)
La gatta dagli artigli d'oro (Italy)
The Golden Claws of the Cat Girl (USA)
The Lone She Wolf (International: English title)

Runtime:

West Germany:96 min

Country:

France | Italy

Language:

French

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Portugal:M/18

Company:

Intermondia Films

Movie Connections:

References Diabolik (1968)

Pussyfoot

La Louve Solitaire, which I saw as "Golden Claws of Cat Girl" (a title worthy of ten stars alone), stars stunning redhead Danielle Gaubert as trapeze artist turned cat burglar Françoise. There's more than a little hint of Nikita in the way Françoise is forced to work for the government after being caught red-handed on a job and one can't help but wonder whether Luc Besson saw this before making that movie. Assisted by undercover agent and gifted lip-reader Bruno (Michel Duchaussoy), Françoise undertakes a daring heist to help nail a drug trafficking gang. Complications inevitably ensue.

The heist sequence is reasonably well-done and is the highlight of this fairly obscure little movie which suffers badly from an uneven tone. Whereas Françoise has all the makings of a comic book heroine – a sexy, catsuit-clad superthief with remarkable acrobatic abilities - La Louve Solitaire is a grey, gloomy movie. Françoise is too cold and remote a character to empathise with and the script lacks the snap and humour that would have brought her flirtations with Bruno to life. Danielle Gaubert certainly looks the part, but her glacial beauty was put to far better use in Radley Metzger's 'Camille 2000'.

Aficionados of 1960s interior design might like to check out Franciose's apartment, but others should check out Mario Bava's Diabolik instead - a movie which has the humour and sparkle La Louve Solitaire desperately lacks. 4/10.