Jacques Cournot, a freelance skipper, is hired by Mr Hendrix in Santo Domingo, first of all to advise him regarding the acquisition of a sailing boat. After a thorough inspection of a prospe... Read allJacques Cournot, a freelance skipper, is hired by Mr Hendrix in Santo Domingo, first of all to advise him regarding the acquisition of a sailing boat. After a thorough inspection of a prospective vessel, the "Dragoon", Cournot reports his positive appraisal to Mr Hendrix and init... Read allJacques Cournot, a freelance skipper, is hired by Mr Hendrix in Santo Domingo, first of all to advise him regarding the acquisition of a sailing boat. After a thorough inspection of a prospective vessel, the "Dragoon", Cournot reports his positive appraisal to Mr Hendrix and initiates the negotiations with Mrs Osborne, the owner of the craft. Barely a couple of days l... Read all
Featured reviews
Given his later work, it's hard to believe Claude Sautet used to make this kind of film. Nevertheless, he proves himself highly adept at the genre, setting up the action scenes with great efficiency. In one terrific sequence, Ventura is dragging the boat's anchor along the sea bed, periodically coming up for air while a marksman is taking potshots at him from the shore. Impressive, too, is the way Sautet fleshes out even the minor characters to give them more depth than you would expect in a movie of this sort.
The film is set almost completely on a boat and an island, which is quite remarkable. A pleasurable watch, although it is not THAT GOOD. The main problems are a few plot holes (how about opening one of those boxes!), a predictable storyline and the part of Leo Gordon, who is a bit too old-fashioned as an actor for this film. And there is not a lot of chemistry between the characters Osborne and Cournot but I am not sure if that was intended anyway.
Predictable or not, I liked it, not only because of Ventura, whose films I almost always like (and there are plenty), but also because of his female counterpart, Sylvia Koscina, an underestimated actress who was not only pretty but also quite good in acting, and played in a lot of interesting sixties flicks in all kinds of languages, like Giulietta degli spiriti, Hot Enough for June, Deadlier Than the Male, Judex, to name just a few. But it was also a decent directed film by Claude Sautet, for whom this is NOT AT ALL a typical film (just watch for example Un Mauvais Fils to get an idea), and shows he was also capable of some easy entertainment. Even better is Classes Tous Risques made five years before this film, also with Ventura, and of course doing rough things. I rate this 7/10.
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaThe French title L'Arme à Gauche ("The Clumsy Weapon") is derived from the French military term for the rifle. The saber (the Arme Blanche or "Pure Weapon") was considered more elegant by officers.
- ConnectionsFeatured in Claude Sautet ou La magie invisible (2003)
Details
- Runtime1 hour 43 minutes
- Color
- Sound mix
- Aspect ratio
- 1.66 : 1
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