Casque d'Or

Gloriously restored in 4K and available on UHD, Blu-ray and DVD, this Belle Epoque masterpiece sees its 70th anniversary and stars Simone Signoret in a career-defining role as a lady of the demimonde whose love for a charming ex-convict spells doom from the outset.

The film’s French title – literally meaning ‘Golden Helmet’ – refers to the unique hairdo of Marie (S. Signoret), a feisty and attractive young woman rumoured to be working as a prostitute despite her involvement with Roland Dupuis (William Sabatier) – a petty criminal described by Marie as pleasant company although she is not really in love with him but it is hinted at that Roland, who is a member of a local crime syndicate led by the unscrupulous Félix Leca (Claude Dauphin) provides Marie with a comfortable enough lifestyle and expensive gifts (stolen, of course). Things change when one day, Raymond (Raymond Bussiéres) introduces Marie to one of his best friends and former partner in crime with whom he shared time in the slammer: ex-convict George Manda (Serge Reggiani) who carves out a meagre earning as a humble carpenter. The dashing Manda and Marie are instantly attracted to one another and enjoy a waltz together, much to the chagrin of Roland who observes the pair having a good time on the open-air dance floor. When Roland confronts Manda he knocks him to the ground while an amused Marie looks on.

Days pass and Marie makes no secret of the fact the she has fallen hook, line and sinker for Manda though her happiness is short-lived when, during a secret rendezvous with him, she learns that he is in fact engaged although his body language tells us he is no longer in love with his fiancée, or perhaps never was to begin with, after all, the drab looking young woman is no competition for the impossibly glamorous Marie! Nonetheless, insulted that Manda hasn’t told her about his fiancée she walks away angrily and decides to move on without him while at the same time she is adamant not to rekindle her unhappy romance with the increasingly jealous Roland. Never missing a beat, syndicate boss Leca, who fancies Marie for himself, proposes to ‘buy’ her from Roland to become his very own gangster’s moll and gives Marie one night to think it over. And what a night it turns out to be! When Marie mingles with punters and Roland in her usual watering hole, who should turn up unexpectedly? Oui, Manda… who has come to claim Marie for himself. No prizes for guessing that Roland won’t have any of it and within no time both men are involved in a nasty fist fight outside the bar but low and behold, the ever-scheming Leca chucks a knife between the two fighting men and suddenly, an ordinary fist fight is transformed into a deadly duel where there can be only one survivor. To Marie’s relief it’s Manda who is the winner and an impressed Leca offers him membership of his gang now that “a position needs to be filled”. Disgusted and proud, Manda refuses. Meanwhile, a punter has alarmed the police and when the law arrives the gang manage to escape while Marie flees to a little village outside town. When the police discover not only the corpse of Roland but also the corpse of the punter who informed them, a murder investigation is about to be launched.

With Manda also making his own way to the countryside, Marie manages to track him down and the pair start to live a seemingly simple yet idyllic life away from the pitfalls of Paris – in a particularly poignant scene Marie and Manda stumble across a church wedding and her look towards him indicates that one day, she would like to marry him. Alas, it is not to be as Leca is adamant to get Marie for himself and take his revenge on Manda for his refusal to join the gang. His dastardly plan involves framing the innocent Raymond for Roland’s killing, knowing full well that Manda, who is extremely loyal to his old friend, will crawl out of the woodwork to save Raymond. And that’s precisely what happens after Manda reads in the paper that Raymond has been arrested and is awaiting trial for the apparent murder of Roland. When Marie wakes up, Manda has already left the little cottage and is on his way to Paris, unaware that Marie will try everything to stop him from doing so, not realising that her interference will open the door to a much bigger tragedy…

The acting is flawless and Signoret, for whom the film was a pet project, delivers one of her finest performances, aptly complemented by Serge Reggiani as her doomed lover. There’s plenty of outdoor shooting along quaint and cobblestoned streets which gives the story, set in the early 19th century, an authentic feeling – that also goes for the many character faces and the period costumes. Cinematographer Robert Lefebvre captures the essence of the era effortlessly. This historical drama is loosely based on the real-life love triangle between prostitute Amélie Élie and gang leaders Manda and Leca who were two notorious ‘Apache gang’ leaders – a French term for a criminal underworld subculture during the Parisian Belle Époque period.
It’s interesting to note that upon the film’s initial release in its native France, CASQUE D’OR didn’t fare too well although it received much praise both from critics and cinema audiences when GOLDEN MARIE (the film’s English title) was shown in London. It was only when the film was shown again some five years later in France that it received the praise it deserved.

Bonus Material offers the Trailer, the featurettes ‘Alex and Marie: Once Upon a Time there was Casque d’Or’ and ‘In the Heart of Hearts – The Legend of Casque d’Or’ plus various audio options. Shame about the small subtitles which are rather hard to decipher unless you have a huge TV-screen, not helped that white subtitles never stand out well against a b/w film anyway.