Échec et mat (1931) Online

The first half of the movie recalls a later work by André Berthomieu,"Le Mort En Fuite" (1936).

A writer's book is selling moderately well but a little publicity stunt would make it sell like hot cakes.So the writer asks one of his friends (Jean-Pierre Aumont) to be his " victim".He will play the role of the "murderer" ,giving all the clues to the Police.Of course the "dead" will reappear after a while.That's exactly what Michel Simon and Jules Berry did in "lE Mort En Fuite".

It takes some time before the plot takes off the ground,for the movie begins with a party complete with songs.The best moments come with the false "perfect crime" and all the clues the guys disseminate all over the place.Then the questioning where the "murderer" plays the game,giving away all the evidences and all the clues to be arrested.

But what follows is not what you are expecting,particularly if you've seen "Le Mort En Fuite" .I will not give you a clue ,see yourself.

Those with a penchant for French cinema will be inclined to seek this one out because it's one of two films that Jean-Pierre Aumont shot in the same year, i.e. it arguably marks his first appearance on screen. There's actually more to it than that, not a great deal perhaps, but certainly a little. For reasons now lost to us it opens and closes with music sequences having little to do with the main thrust of the plot which is essentially an early example of positive PR: a writer's book is not so much walking as crawling off the shelves so he hits upon a scheme involving him ostensibly killing someone thus generating free publicity and then, in the fullness of time the victim will turn up safe and sound. It's a nice touch to have the three plotters draw lots to determine who will be killer and who killed. Like all the best laid schemes it is doomed to gang alay but along the way it does its best to entertain and is certainly worth a look.