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Masterful French comic actor Tramel plays the title character in Cognasse. Based on a play, the story zeroes in on Cognasse, a starry-eyed communist workman in a huge French wallpaper factory. On the whim of the new owner Paul Faregot (Andre Roanne), Cognasse is put in charge of the factory. It doesn't take long for our hero's volatile left-leaning sympathies to evaporate when he discovers first-hand the seductive pleasures of capitalism. Once he's made a success of the factory and enriched himself, Cognasse forgets all about waving the Red banner. Cognasse was the final directorial effort by Louis Mercanton, who died shortly after filming was completed.