good drama

Author: Wout Visser (wrvisser-leusden-nl) from Leusden, Holland
7 August 2003

*** This review may contain spoilers ***

Brigitte Bardot, at the pinnacle of her career, plays a cheap whore committing a robbery. At her trial she is defended succesfully by the jet-set lawyer Gobillot, played by the great Jean Gabin. Needless to tell that Gobillot gets involved by Brigitte's charms, and that she becomes his mistress afterwards.

'En cas de malheur' shows fascinatingly the spell young, blond and beautiful Yvette (= BB) excercises on Gobillot - him getting into serious professional and marital trouble as a result. Of course Yvette meanwhile keeps involved with a lover of her own age.The movie also bridges a generation gap. It really is the splendid youthful beauty of Bardot against the magnificent acting by the mature Gabin and Edwige Feuillière (who plays madame Gobillot).

The greatest thing about this good movie is, I think, that Brigitte accepted second billing after Gabin. At the height of her breathtaking career she did just that, and the results show her right.You may be interested to know that the story of 'Malheur' was written by Georges Simenon. He is a Belgian who became famous all over Europe for his detective-novels, featuring policeman Maigret. Also interesting is that Gabin had a love affair with Marlène Dietrich (at the end of the forties, I believe).

So he knew about beautiful actresses: when Brigitte met him for the first time on the set of 'Malheur', she was so over-awed that she spoke her lines wrongly. Gabin, understanding, made a few mistakes himself in his lines - purposely, thus putting Brigitte at ease. It worked.The end of 'Malheur' fits well: Yvette is murdered by her lover, the young one. A crime out of jealousy.