{"id":32470,"date":"2025-11-17T23:07:19","date_gmt":"2025-11-18T07:07:19","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.cinemastance.com\/?p=32470"},"modified":"2025-11-17T23:07:19","modified_gmt":"2025-11-18T07:07:19","slug":"blasts-from-the-past-blu-ray-review-wicked-games-three-films-by-robert-hossein-1955-1958-1961","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/?p=32470","title":{"rendered":"Blasts from the Past! Blu-ray Review: WICKED GAMES: THREE FILMS BY ROBERT HOSSEIN (1955, 1958, 1961)"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

This \u201cLimited Edition\u201d Blu-ray box set from Radiance\nFilms will be available for purchase on November 18th<\/sup>.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The importance of the French crime picture Rififi <\/em>can\u2019t\nbe overstated. The success of the film, critically and commercially, resulted\nin huge careers for many of the cast and crew members. One of the actors who\nmade a memorable impression was Robert Hossein. As an actor, he became a box\noffice draw and soon began directing features in the 1950s. While several of\nhis titles were popular with audiences, they weren\u2019t as well regarded by the\npress in his homeland. In fact, by the 1960s, important cinema-related\npublications like Cahiers du Cinema<\/em>, whose attention was focused on the\nFrench New Wave, was largely dismissive of Hossein\u2019s work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While his pictures could be melodramatic and pulpy, they\naren\u2019t your typical studio fare and are wonderful in their own right. Radiance\nFilms have decided to present a trio of his works that have been largely unseen\nby audiences in North America. It\u2019s called Wicked Games: Three Films by\nRobert Hossein<\/em>. Gaumont has presented the distributor with 2K restorations\nof all the films and they look beautiful. The set also contains enlightening\nextras that go over the films and their importance in French cinema history.\nAnyone who enjoys international cinema should pick up this impressive\ncollection.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The first movie contained is Hossein\u2019s directorial debut, The\nWicked Go to Hell<\/em> (1955), and it\u2019s something of a French film-noir. The\nstory begins as a prison drama, following the exploits of Pierre (Henri Vidal)\nand Rudel (Serge Reggiani), two convicts who find themselves locked in a cell\ntogether. When another important prison  inmate, Fred (Hossein himself),\nfinds that someone ratted on him, the entire population guesses it was either\nPierre or Rudel. The two men realize they have to escape and agree to work\ntogether to free themselves. After managing a jailbreak, their vehicle breaks\ndown. They end up at an isolated beach house, taking an artist (Jacques Duby)\nhostage along with his stunning girlfriend Eva (Marina Vlady). It isn\u2019t long\nbefore they kill the man and find themselves clamoring for the attention of the\ncharming woman. In fact, they are so enamored, they fail to realize that she\nmay want revenge for her beau\u2019s death.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The feature marks an impressive debut for Hossein. This is a\ncharacter-based story and the film does an excellent job of developing various\npersons at the jail. So much so that it\u2019s almost sad to see some disappear as\nthe story moves outside the locale. At least the tension between Pierre and\nRudel is maximized, as both accuse each other of being the snitch (the movie\nnever really lets on exactly which of them is). Vlady makes a stunning\nimpression as the young woman (she is almost reminiscent of Ursula Andress\u2019\nintro in Dr. No<\/em>, which came a few years later) who hides her true intent\nwhile around her swooning captors. The finale ends on a familiar but effective\nnote as the story is wrapped up.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The photography is also remarkable. There are some wonderful\noverhead angles of prisoners marching and a dirty, oppressive look to the jail.\nThe lovely sea locale is beautiful, but it ends up being just as dangerous,\nmaking for a nice contrast. While the plot structure is odd and the movie is\nrelatively simple, there are enough unique elements to keep one engaged and\nfollowing the story.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The bonuses on the disc include a commentary by film historian Tim Lucas (he actually delivers a track on all three pictures). There is a newly created making-of featurette with another movie expert that also contains interviews with Hossein and filmmaker Jean Rollin. It seems Rollin knew the director and worked with him on a few projects. Both of these features go over some of the interesting oddities about the director\/co-star and production. Hossein\u2019s past is largely unknown and there is little in the way of a biography on him, so his life prior to his movie career is speculative. For this project, established figure Yves All\u00e9gret (The Proud and the Beautiful<\/em>) was supervising Hossein\u2019s direction. This credit has led to questions about who did what on the feature. Apparently, this process was not unusual at the time in France and Hossein does suggest that the filmmaker helped shoot a few bits. You\u2019ll also find out that Hossein\u2019s father scored the picture under a pseudonym and that Vlady was 18-years-old and had married Hossein before the shoot. The two would work together on another picture in this set.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Additionally, you\u2019ll get a retrospective piece on the career\nof Hossein that goes over all of his pictures, and attempts to assess why\ncritics initially were against his work. Some didn\u2019t think there were any\nnotable messages in these efforts and they were just commercial pictures, but\nit doesn\u2019t seem that way when revisiting them. You\u2019ll see clips from some\nnoteworthy titles, like The Vampire of Dusseldorf<\/em> aka The Secret\nKiller<\/em>, which is the true story of a notorious German serial\nkiller.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The second film in the set is Nude in a White Car<\/em>\n(1958) aka Blonde in a White Car<\/em>. It stars Hossein as Victor Menda, a\ndowncast, out-of-work radio show host taking a late-night walk in Nice near a\nbeach. He\u2019s picked up by a blonde woman in a car. She is beautiful, but he\ncan\u2019t make out her face clearly. The two park and make love before she spurns\nhim. In fact, the mystery lady shoves Victor out of the car and then attempts\nto run him down. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Shocked, the lead gets her license and ends up at a\nbeautiful coastal villa. He intends to confront the woman, but is confused when\ntwo blonde sisters appear. One is a sweet, wheelchair-bound Polio survivor Eva\n(Marina Vlady), while the other is her sibling, Helene (Odile Versois), who\nworks tirelessly as Eva\u2019s caregiver. Victor can\u2019t quite figure out what is\ngoing on, as both are friendly and offer him the position of manager at their\nsoon-to-open record shop. He\u2019s obviously curious about whom he spent that first\npassionate night with, but the longer he is there and sees tension in their\nrelationship, the more confusing it all becomes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you can get over the fact that Victor wouldn\u2019t be able to\nmake out his lover\u2019s face during their romantic escapade (this bit is more\nbrightly lit than it should be, so much so that you wonder if Victor should see\nan optometrist), this is a pulpy but extremely enjoyable effort. It\u2019s not set\nin a lot of locations, but it is beautifully shot with stunning lighting. There\nare some angles of the villa with the camera shooting up to the second-floor\nhallway. The dark shadows on the walls from the decorative railings are\nstriking. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Again, this is a psychological thriller and its emphasis on\ncharacter and the performances make it intriguing throughout. There\u2019s great\nchemistry between the entire cast, which is to be expected given that the\nstar\/director was married to one of the actresses playing the sister.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Like Victor, viewers will frequently be wondering who knows what, as well as whether Eva is faking her condition, or Helene is simply desperate to get away and act out on her impulses. Personally, I wouldn\u2019t exactly describe the siblings as typical Hollywood \u2018Femme Fatale\u2019 scenario, but this alteration actually makes the story more interesting and unsettling. This effort is a great surprise and the psychological drama makes it a strong entry in the set. And, on a personal level, I couldn\u2019t help but also be fascinated by some of the backdrops, including the look of the era\u2019s record shops.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Again, the picture looks stunning here. It\u2019s a very clean\nand crisp image with a lot of detail. It\u2019s hard to imagine the movie looking\nany better.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The commentary track with Tim Lucas is also entertaining, as\nhe analyses the psychological states of the characters at various points in the\nstory, as well as giving detailed information about the production. It\u2019s a fun\ntrack. You\u2019ll also receive a visual essay on \u2018Femme Fatales\u2019 in classic French\ncinema which points out some of the interesting and different versions of the\nstaple that have been depicted onscreen over the years. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

And there is a recent interview with Marina Vlady, who\ndiscusses her work and relationship with Hossein. She believes that the busy\npair had a wild and jam-packed relationship, living full lifetimes in only a\nhandful of years. This involved making movies, traveling and having kids. The\npair divorced after a few years, but it was amicable and they remain friendly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The last movie in the set is the western, The Taste of\nViolence<\/em> (1961), which film historian Tim Lucas believes is Hossein\u2019s\nmasterpiece. This tale is set in \u201cCentral America\u201d although it clearly is\ninspired by the Mexican Revolution. Revolutionaries made up or ordinary\ncitizens are fighting their oppressive, dictatorial government. We focus on one\nfaction and its lieutenant, Perez (Hossein). After defeating a train containing\nan army, they take the president\u2019s daughter Maria (Giovanna Ralli) hostage. The\ngroup soon find themselves under attack, with Perez and underlings Chamaco\n(Mario Adorf) and Chico (Hans H. Neubert) escaping and discussing what to do\nwith Maria. One wants to sell her back for money, another man falls for her,\nand even Perez feels himself growing close to the woman. It leads to conflicts\nwithin the trio. And after some time, Maria\u2019s attitudes towards the men change\nas she sees the hardships they and their families have endured.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While one might initially wonder if a French western shot in\nMontenegro and Croatia could convincingly present a western setting, it\u2019s so\nbeautifully captured and framed that any of the natural oddities on display\naren\u2019t a distraction. You\u2019ll be treated to phenomenal imagery throughout the\npicture, in all sorts of outside locations. A city street scene late in the\nfilm, when the surviving characters return to see their hanged compatriots\nlined up and down the street, is stunning.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Again, there is plenty of solid character work here, with\nthe three revolutionaries at odds and even plotting against each other, leading\nto a consistently tense story. At the time, it was relatively rare to see a\nmovie focus on downtrodden citizens fighting for a better life and the\nscreenplay interestingly displays their different motivations and attitudes.\nWhile subdued by genre standards, the finale is very impressive and doesn\u2019t\ngive way to an upbeat wrap-up. It\u2019s an excellent picture.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This title has a discussion with filmmaker and western\nauthority Alex Cox (Sid and Nancy<\/em>) talking about the movie and its\nimportance. He goes into its tendency to avoid showing long and elaborate\nbattle scenes, instead focusing on the aftermath. Cox notes that while some\nhave critiqued the picture for this and called it a budgetary issue, the number\nof extras, horses and more on display suggest he could have shown it all if he\nwanted to, but chose not to glorify the violence. It\u2019s another informative\nextra.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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There is a commentary from Lucas that goes into technical\ndetail about the production, the cast and more. This is his favorite effort\nfrom Hossein and his enthusiasm for the picture ends up being infectious. And\nthere is a wonderful 27-minute featurette on the Zapata Western (which features\nstories detailing the Mexican revolution) and the many pictures included in\nthis subgenre, like A Fistful of Dynamite<\/em>. Viewers will also learn\nHossein\u2019s film inspired Sergio Leone (the Dollars <\/em>trilogy, Once Upon\na Time in the West<\/em>) and that the filmmakers were good friends. So much so\nthat Leone gave Hossein a cameo in Once Upon a Time in the West<\/em>, and\nHossein had Leone direct the dinner scene in his own western, Cemetery\nWithout Crosses<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Wicked Games: Three Films by Robert Hossein<\/em> \u201cLimited\nEdition\u201d Blu-ray set is a winner. All of the movies are very good (with two\nbeing exceptional), the picture quality is wonderful, and the extras will give\none a greater appreciation and understanding of the movies and their place in\nFrench cinema. It\u2019s fantastic that Rififi afforded Hossein the opportunity to\nnot only appear in more films, but make them himself. If you can, be sure to\npick this set up.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This \u201cLimited Edition\u201d Blu-ray box set from Radiance Films will be available for purchase on November 18th. The importance of the French crime picture Rififi can\u2019t be overstated. The success of the film, critically and commercially, resulted in huge careers for many of the cast and crew members. One of the actors who made a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":32472,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[84,87,90,2933,2939,3001,3073,7482,7528,7798,7932,13230,15161,16584,17164,22373,22614,24114,24248,24249],"class_list":["post-32470","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-dvdblu-ray-reviews","tag-84","tag-87","tag-90","tag-blasts-from-the-past-2","tag-blasts-from-the-past-blu-ray-review-2","tag-blonde-in-a-white-car","tag-blu-ray-review","tag-femme-fatale","tag-film-noir","tag-france","tag-french","tag-marina-vlady","tag-nude-in-a-white-car","tag-radiance-films","tag-robert-hossein","tag-the-taste-of-violence","tag-the-wicked-go-to-hell","tag-western","tag-wicked-games-three-films-by-robert-hossein","tag-wicked-games-three-films-by-robert-hossein-blu-ray-review"],"blocksy_meta":{"styles_descriptor":{"styles":{"desktop":"","tablet":"","mobile":""},"google_fonts":[],"version":8}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32470","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=32470"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32470\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=32470"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=32470"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=32470"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}