Chair de Poule (1963)
Directed by Julien Duvivier
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Synopsis by Sandra Brennan
In this French crime drama, two safe-crackers are breaking into a safe when they are caught in the act by a guard. One of the crooks kills the guard and flees leaving his partner behind. The abandoned accomplice is captured and convicted. One year passes before the convict is able to escape from prison and set out to exact his revenge. As he flees, he becomes friends with a gas station owner married to a gold-digging ex-hooker. When the wife learns that the hero is a fugitive she blackmails him into cracking her husband's safe. Unfortunately, they are captured by the owner who is killed in the ensuing scuffle by his wife. The fugitive hero then buries the body. He refuses to open the safe. As fate would have it, the fugitive's ex-partner happens upon the scene, but he too will not open the save. A short time later, the wife leaves. The partners then attempt to open it, but are surprised when the murderous wife returns with a shotgun. The fugitive's partner kills the girl, but as he tries to flee the police, his car careens into the gas pumps and explodes in a tremendous ball of fire. Fortunately, the hero escapes at the very last second.
Characteristics
Keywords
killing, accident, accomplice [criminal], blackmail, burial, car, convict, criminal, employment, escape, explosion, France, golddigger, highway, husband, injustice, loot, partner, police, prison, prostitute/prostitution, revenge, safecracker, security-guard, seduction, station, struggle
