Mauvaise Graine

Mauvaise Graine is a 1934 French drama film directed by Billy Wilder and Alexander Esway. The screenplay by Wilder, H.G. Lustig, Max Kolpé, and Claude-André Puget focuses on a wealthy young playboy who becomes involved with a gang of car thieves. Although Wilder and Esway shared the directing credit, in later years leading lady Danielle Darrieux recalled Esway was involved with the project in some capacity but clearly remembered she never saw him on the set. In her opinion the film, which marked Wilder's directorial debut, was his alone. Set in 1930s Paris, the story centers on... Henri Pasquier, whose wealthy father announces he no longer will support his playboy lifestyle. Dr. Pasquier sells his son's beloved Buick roadster, which Henri later sees parked on a street with the keys left in the ignition by the new owner. Unable to resist temptation, he takes the car to keep a date with a young lady he recently has met. Henri is followed by three men who overtake him and bring him to the service station that serves as the front for a gang of car thieves. Believing he is one of them, they warn him not to compete with their operation.
more