Magnet of Doom (1963)

Broke French ex-paratrooper turned amateur boxer Michel Maudet becomes bodyguard for the fugitive corrupt banker Ferchaux.

Director:

Jean-Pierre Melville

Writers:

Jean-Pierre Melville (adaptation), Jean-Pierre Melville (dialogue)

Stars:

Jean-Paul Belmondo, Charles Vanel, Michèle Mercier

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Jean-Paul Belmondo	...	Michel Maudet
Charles Vanel	...	Dieudonné Ferchaux
Michèle Mercier	...	Lou
Malvina Silberberg	...	Lina (as Malvina)
Stefania Sandrelli	...	Angie, Hitch-Hiker
Barbara Sommers	...	Lou's friend
E.F. Medard	...	Suska
Todd Martin	...	Jeff
André Certes	...	Émile Ferchaux
Andrex	...	M. Andrei
Jerry Mengo	...	Banker
Delia Kent	...	Prostitute
Ginger Hall	...	Nurse
Maurice Auzel	...	Boxeur
Simone Darot

Storyline

When French ex-paratrooper turned amateur boxer Michel Maudet looses his last fight he decides to quit boxing. The French banker and businessman Dieudonné Ferchaux is looking for a new personal secretary and bodyguard. The 25 year old ex-paratrooper is perfect for this role and he accepts the job. Because Mr. Ferchaux is in trouble with the French authorities, especially for his tax evasion crimes, he decides to run to America taking his personal secretary and bodyguard with him. After being threatened with extradition from the USA Mr. Ferchaux plans to escape to South America.He carries a vast sum of money with him but his bodyguard Maudet has a few dishonest ideas of his own.

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Plot Keywords:

jukebox | undressing | shower | bare chested male | bare chested male fighting | 

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Genres:

Adventure | Crime | Drama

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Details

Country:

France Italy

Language:

French English

Release Date:

25 September 1963 (Italy)

Also Known As:

An Honorable Young Man

Filming Locations:

Studios Jenner, Rue Jenner, Paris 13, Paris, France

Company Credits

Production Co:

Spectacles Lumbroso, Ultra Film, Sicilia Cinematografica

Technical Specs

Runtime:

102 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Yves Boisset, who was assistant to Melville on the shooting, confessed that Melville asked him to find some local American extras for the bar fight. And one of them was a student named Robert De Niro, who was twenty years old at this time. But Melville rejected him.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Michel Maudet: My name is Michel Maudet. I guess. Back then, I was a boxer. Or more precisely, trying to become one.

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Connections

Remade as Ferchaux (2001)

User Reviews

Melville Noir

As some of the other reviews have already stated, the print of the movie that is available is very poor. So it is not quite clear whether Melville wanted to have the washed-out look of the picture or whether it is just plain bad quality. Even rare TV screenings do not offer an improved version (ARTE). The relationship between the young ex-paratrooper/boxer/secretary (Belmondo) and the old bank owner/colonial adventurer (Vanel) is quite interesting and also stands for the generational conflict of the 1960s. Obviously, some of the plot is somewhat stretched but the tension between the main characters is excellently played out. Melville wanted Spencer Tracy for the Vanel part, but Tracy's health situation made any form of outdoor filming (not to mention insurance for this) Impossible. Belmondo, who is fooling around in Godard's "Breathless" and posing as a Bogart style tough guy, really plays a film noir character in this one. The way he treats his girlfriend at the beginning of the movie makes his protagonist almost unlikeable. In the damp Louisiana setting at the end of the movie, the whole affair really turns into a veritable noir.