La Taverne du poisson couronné (1947)
Directed by René Chanas

Film Review

La Taverne du poisson couronné may have been scripted by the legendary Henri Jeanson but it looks like it was flung together in an afternoon by a team of unimaginative illiterates, the end result being the messiest conflation of melodrama, thriller and comedy you can imagine.  Jeanson should take some blame for his share in this misfire but his sins are modest compared with those committed by director René Chanas, who clearly hasn't a clue what he is doing.  Chanas had already directed one film by this stage - Le Jugement dernier (1945) - and would go on to direct another eight before doing the decent thing and giving up.  Not one of his films has stood the test of time and even a film as star-studded as La Taverne du poisson couronné would have a hard time justifying its place in a graveyard television slot, let alone posterity.

It's a shame that a film that is so unremittingly inept (the poor production quality of the opening scenes beggars belief) should have been blessed with such an impressive cast.  Michel Simon was at the height of his powers around this time and showed again and again what a remarkable performer he was, in such films as Julien Duvivier's Panique (1946), Henri Decoin's Non coupable (1947) and René Clair's La Beauté du diable (1950).  Here, as the archetypal old sea dog with a fiery temperament, he is merely wasted - just a lot of sound and fury signifying sweet Fanny Adam.

Jules Berry comes off even worse, reduced, in the twilight of his career, to a grotesque mugging parody of his former self.  Anyone expecting a replay of Simon and Berry's memorable double act in Le Mort en fuite (1936) will be sorely disappointed.  These are not the only casualties in this Titanic-like disaster - Blanchette Brunoy, Michèle Martin, Raymond Bussières and Robert Dalban all end up being lost at sea.  La Taverne du poisson couronné has some moments of (probably accidental) hilarity and is as grimly atmospheric as any French film noir of this era, but it is too slack, sloppy and half-baked to hold any real interest.

Film Synopsis

Captain Palmer returns to port with his cargo after an eventful sea journey in which his seamanship was tested to the limit by a violent storm.  Once on land, he is greeted by his daughter Maria, who has recently married Léo, the unscrupulous manager of a popular nightclub.  When Maria reveals that Léo has been carrying on an affair with his attractive singer, Sylvia Corail, Palmer is outraged and hits back by bringing Sylvia into contact with her previous lover, Pierre.  Léo's feud with Palmer concludes with a violent brawl in which the former is stabbed to death.  Palmer allows Pierre to take the blame for the killing before deciding that his life is not worth living.  He returns to sea for one last adventure...