by Ted Davis

Also Known As: Magnet of Doom; An Honorable Young Man

Directed by: Jean-Pierre Melville

Cat Out of the Bag Alert! This review contains some spoilers for this film!

Synopsis: Predominantly selfish ex-boxer Michel Maudet (Jean-Paul Belmondo) is at loose ends and in dire need of funds after losing his last bout when he is hired as a secretary-traveling companion by Dieudonne Ferchaux (Charles Vanel), a manipulative and exploitive banker who must flee France to avoid prosecution, or worse, for tax evasion. The two men escape to New York to pick up a cache of the banker’s funds, then take to the American back roads on a tense journey through the Deep South on to New Orleans where they stagnate and bicker like an old married couple while waiting for passage to Venezuela, a country that does not recognize extradition agreements.

Purr Blur: Once the pair leave New York, Michel insists on a quick pilgrimage to visit the house where Frank Sinatra was born so that he can pay homage to a winner with whom he shares Italian heritage and a similarly impoverished upbringing. A moment before they reach the shrine, a brown tabby cat can be glimpsed outside of Pete’s Food Market.

Final Mewsings: A bodega cat before bodega cats were cool.

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