The Upper Hand

It was the second time George Raft had been cast in a supporting part of a French movie (see :"nous irons à Paris")and watching him play opposite Gabin is a delight : the way the French deceives him is hilarious ;and one wishes there were more lines such as " no ambulance needed; got to scrape' em off the ground!'.But this screenplay was not strong material and Michel Audiard was not at hand to write punchy lines.

Besides , the story is disjointed and ,with a few exceptions ,Denys De La Patellière is generally a mediocre director .He cannot hold a candle to Jules Dassin,who made another memorable "rififi"

The main interest lies in the international cast. Apart from Raft , it includes Mexican- English Claudio Brook , German Gert Froebe and Nadja Tiller and plenty of French up-and-coming stars such as Claude Brasseur and a very sexy Mireille Darc .

The scenes between Gabin and Froebe stand out too: "Goldfinger" is an antique dealer ,his façade of respectability which conceals his international smuggling :an esthete , and also , totally unexpected ,a political activist ; "you couldn't comprehend",he says to a scowling Gabin .