Le solitaire

Americans have such a prejudice against German actors. I've seen it with Curd Jurgens, Jurgen Prochnow, and Hardy Kruger: in European films, they can take on a wide range of roles in different film genres. But in films with an American-targeted audience, they play Nazi soldiers or other villains. If all you saw of Hardy Kruger was A Bridge Too Far, The Battle of Neretva, and The Secret of Santa Vittoria, you'd think he was permanently in uniform. He was capable of so much more, and I was so happy to find a bunch of subtitled (or sometimes non-subtitled) movies to see his range. It's a good thing I'm fluent in French!

In Le solitaire, Hardy plays a hardened criminal (no pun intended) in jail for safecracking. He looks about as tough as Robert Redford did in Brubaker - but don't let that gorgeous blond mug fool you. When one of his cellmates tries to grope him after lights-out, he beats the tar out of him! He's got a temper, and he doesn't take anything from anybody - except when one of the guards surprises him with a kick in the nether-regions. It's all forgiven when the same guard offers to help him escape, if he robs the prison safe and surrenders its contents.

The beginning of this film is more entertaining than the latter half, because you have high hopes for Hardy and his reunion with his daughter once out of prison. Once you see what actually happens, it's far more depressing than inspiring. You can't win them all, and even though I'm sure Hardy was glad to be the headliner in this French flick, I'd rather watch some of his other movies next time.

What a rare movie from France, very hard to find, with known actors though. Hardy Kruger, who was an international star and already used in French movies, Georges Géret, Francis Blanche and Raymond Pellegrin, exquisite as a rotten, rogue prison guard, pushing Kruger, the inmate, to commit a robbery inside the jail. The topic is rather usual, very foreseeable but it remains a good time waster, especially for seventies era lovers as I am with the appropriate atmosphere. The main character is empathetic, as a escaped con trying to pull a last job before getting away with his daughter. Classical but taut, effective. The burglary sequence riveting for the audience and a poignant ending.

German-French prison crime film with Hardy Krüger

This small but fine film by Alain Brunet is tailored entirely to its leading actor, the great Hardy Krüger. Here he plays a professional burglar who this time is innocently imprisoned in a prison in Marseille. The loner guy longs for his little daughter, whom he had to leave behind with friends. This Eric Lambrecht would give anything to be able to break out of the hated prison. The offer from a guard comes in handy. If Lambrecht takes over a break for him, something could happen with the towers...

The story of the prison and the escape is by no means retold here, but it is very exciting. The break-in after the escape is particularly well staged. The film lives from its appropriate atmosphere and the good actors. In addition to GOLDEN GLOBE nominee Hardy Krüger, who carries the film almost single-handedly, Raymond Pellegrin and Jean Lefebvre deserve special mention.

Hardy Krüger shot an election commercial for Willy Brandt on the prison set of this film in the fall of 1972. In December the legendary "Willy election" was to take place in the 1972 federal election, in which Brandt was confirmed as Federal Chancellor. This little episode can also be seen in the worthwhile documentary "The Hardy-Krüger Story", which was recently shown on the German-French television channel ARTE.

i've seen this movie many years ago, i guess around 20 years ago at least, Hardy Krüger in the role of Eric Lambrecht, a thieve who has a little daughter adopted by a friend while he is in prison, i think as many forgotten french and Italian movies this one is very good, maybe the end is not that one expects but the script is very intelligent ,the scenes inside the jail are very good and realistic ,and the steal plan was awesome for a 70's movie ( i saw some years later the same tricks in TV shows like " a team" ) , the music is nice , it's hard to say that is impossible to find a copy about this film now , i would buy it with all pleasure greetings