Knave of Hearts

Legends die hard.Many naive people are still thinking that the Nouvelle Vague took the cinema out of the studios and saved a so called moribund "breathless" cinema.In the fifties,many people did cleverer things earlier and shot "on location" well before the wave.

"Monsieur Ripois" was filmed ,for many scenes ,in the streets of London,as Julien Duvivier and Jacques Becker filmed respectively "Sous Le Ciel De Paris" and "Les Rendez-Vous De Juillet" in the streets of Paris.Gerard Philippe walks in the London crowd as Belmondo will do in "breathless",six years later.

"Monsieur Ripois " owes almost everything to Gerard Philipe though;the screenplay is not that exciting and sometimes the action drags on.But Philipe was so extraordinary an actor -his boyish nay childlike look was unique among French actors ,he was never replaced - he could give substance to the most common of the characters (here a jaded Don Juan) He was one of the four actors Truffaut did not want to work with (for the record ,the three others were Michèle Morgan,Michel Simon and Jean Gabin) and that's a good reason to like him.He can be so many men from the charming young man to the tramp on the street,starving and crying over his broken radio to the chic pseudo-lit teacher Mr Cadet-Chenonceaux ,but he remains the man with the child in his eyes.

"Monsieur Ripois" ,in its own particular way,is a forerunner of " (the talented)Mr Ripley" René Clement would transfer to the screen in 1959 as "Plein Soleil" aka " Purple noon" .Both Philipe and Alain Delon seem to be "outside their character",the fact that the 1954 work is a comedy -which tragically ends- and the 1959 effort a thriller does not matter much:Ripois and Ripley have to fight against a hostile work,both try to gain the world (one cannot speak of their soul) thanks to women (Ripois) or crime (Ripley).Both take the others' names (Ripley) or invent their own identity (Ripois).

Adapted from the Edwardian novel by Louis Hémon, the character of serial womaniser André Ripois is far lighter here than the original and is played by the immensely talented and tragically short-lived Gérard Philippe whose combination of childlike vulnerabity and Gallic charm evinces our sympathy despite his deeply flawed character.

Directed by Réne Clément, this has been filmed simultaneously in English and French. For this viewer at any rate the French version is far more intriguing not only because of its contrast with the greyness of the London setting but for the delight of listening to the excellent French spoken by three quintessentially English actresses, the imperious Valerie Hobson, the ravishing Natasha Parry and the enchanting Joan Greenwood whose poignant performance is even more so in light of her off-screen affair with Philippe.

Clément has employed a mixture of styles ranging from the lightly comedic to the melancholic to the bittersweet which works extremely well. The use of music is excellent, not least the harmonica whilst cinematographer Oswald Morris has taken to the streets in Nouvelle Vague mode.

Coming as it does between Clément's 'Jeux Interdits' and 'Gervaise', this delightful piece has been unjustly overlooked, despite Gérard Philippe turning in one of his finest performances.

It is his film. In the most profound sense. Without any explanation. Story of a seducer. Using all the skills of Philipe. Especialy his spectacular freshness. And admirable manner to propose a great character, in few scenes against the script.

There were two versions filmed concurrently of this film : one , Monsieur Ripois , in french , and very good it is too . There is also the English language version called Knave of Hearts , or Lovers , Happy Lovers , or Lover boy . This was still quit common at the time , and the English language version is even better . Gerard Philipe is even more charming , but also more spontaneous and vulnerable . I have only seen this version once , 20 years ago , but it has really stuck with me . If only someone would release this version ....

Watch this and you'll think it's New Wave. But it's not. It's better. It's what came before and was later rebranded. French cinema was liberated long before the sixties and did not suffer the same sort of censorship as American. I don't know if American cinema of the fifties has to offer anything similar to Monsieur Ripois. Here is this perfectly charming man who is also a parasite that you cannot help but like because he is also childish. Rarely does a film show a narcissist as someone to feel pity for. This one offers, in my opinion, an accurate aspect of the disorder. He is his own worst enemy. But it's really the acting that makes this character so convincing. Learning French with Gerard Philipe in this film is one of the funniest movie scenes I've seen. The women he meets are all better than him, yet they all fall for him. He truly falls for one of them. Quite literally. A very refreshing take on the battle of the sexes free of today's mores. Looks like women were able to take care of themselves over the past century. It's not the New Wave.