Apparently intended as a vehicle for Gabin and Dietrich which would have
provided a completely different film, this moody evocation of Paris in the
final year of World War II is not that good. Perhaps it is wrong to expect
name directors to produce the goods in all their films (cf John Ford and
'Gideon's Day) but this did not click. A rather melodramatic tale which was
not helped by the wooden acting of Miss Nattier as the love interest, it has
some nice touches - the sub-plot of the daughter and her new boyfriend, for
instance, with Dany Robin shining as the young girl - but the main interest
of the film now is likely to be the appearance of Yves Montand in an early
role and the theme music known here as 'Autumn Leaves' from the Johnny
Mercer version of the original Jacques Prevert verses.