Martin Roumagnac (1946)

A working class building contractor (Jean Gabin) falls in love with a beautiful pet shop owner (Marlene Dietrich). She loves him but she loves money more. Based on the novel by Pierre Rene Wolf and directed by Georges Lacombe (CAFE DE PARIS). The only pairing of these two cinematic icons is a strong film noir that would still be of interest even without its two leads. Fortunately, Gabin and Dietrich give off sparks (apparently off screen, too) and elevate the movie to another level. They weren't stars for nothing. Gabin is wonderful but the film belongs to Dietrich, who gets free of the exoticism that infused her Hollywood films. Her promiscuous gold digging femme fatale has more in common with her Lola in THE BLUE ANGEL than the mysterious beauties of MOROCCO and GARDEN OF ALLAH. Being a French film, it can be and is franker with sexuality than her Hollywood movies. With Daniel Gelin and Margo Lion.