by Ted Davis

Original Title: La Tulipe Noire

Directed by: Christian-Jaque

Synopsis: In the days before The French Revolution, aristocrat Guillaume de Saint Preux (Alain Delon) leads a dangerous double life, acting as one of the nobility, yet also donning mask and cape as the Black Tulip, the notorious scourge and plunderer of the entitled upper class. After his face is scarred during a robbery, Guillaume calls on his twin brother, the more idealistic Julien (also played by Alain Delon), to stand in as The Black Tulip, a ruse designed to fool the chief of police, the suspicious and antagonistic Baron La Mouche (Adolfo Marsillach), into believing that Guillaume is innocent of the Tulip’s depredations.

Purr Blur: At the very beginning of the movie, during a bright sunlit day, and while the narrator is still babbling, a very relaxed tortoiseshell street cat saunters across a deserted cobblestone street.

Final Mewsings: Why did the cat cross the road? To get to the other side, of course!

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