It's possible that it was me who misled the previous poster when I mentioned - erroneously as it happens - that I had identified 31 Continetal releases when in fact there were only 30 so for the record this was released by S.P.D.F. Some four years later Lance Comfort remade it in England as Temptation Harbour and made a pig's ear of it if anybody asks you. This is the real deal with Henri Decoin's sure-footed direction coaxing sterling performances from Fernand Ledoux, Jules Berry and Suzy Prim - in England 'prim' is used largely in connection with strait-laced spinsters so it may well generate mild amusement to find it appended to a prostitute, albeit one with the almost obligatory heart of gold. Decoin was a fine director whom I rate only a tad behind Carne', Duvivier, Pagnol, Renoir, Clair and alongside the likes of Clouzot, Tourneur, Valentin, Cayatte, etc and here he allows his camera to set the scene roaming freely along the mist-shrouded quay where Ledoux, from his vantage point in the signal box has a bird's eye view of Berry killing an accomplice and tossing a suitcase full of francs into the harbour. Having recovered it the film becomes an exploration of his conscience a sort of psychological noir if you will which scores heavily in all departments. One to savour.
Review of L'Homme de Londres
