by Hal Erickson
synopsis
Coup de Feu a L'Aube was the simultaneously filmed French-language version of the German crime caper Schuss im Morgengrauen (The Shot at Dawn). Both films were based on The Woman and the Emerald, a play by Harry Jenkins. The protagonists are a gang of jewel thieves, who have been successfully able to cover their tracks for a long time. Alas, their winning streak comes to a sudden screeching halt when one of their number makes the mistake of murdering a police detective. The essential difference between the French and German versions is that the police officers depicted on-screen wear different costumes. Otherwise, all the exterior shots, crowd scenes and action highlights in Schuss im Morgengrauen were re-cycled for Coup de Feu a L'Aube.
