L'Ennemi Public Numero Un (1954)
Directed by Henri Verneuil
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Synopsis by Hal Erickson
Lantern-jawed French comedian Fernandel plays a dual role in Most Wanted Man. He stars as an ordinary Joe (or ordinary Pierre, perhaps) who is the exact double of a notorious gangster. In the tradition of Edward G. Robinson's The Whole Town's Talking, Fernandel must take the place of the criminal, and vice versa. The toughest hurdle in the charade is fooling the gangster's mistress "Mademoiselle", played by Zsa Zsa Gabor (who unlike Fernandel has trouble playing one role). Eventually Zsa Zsa takes a liking to the "nice" Fernandel and helps him collar the rest of the crooks. Most Wanted Man was first released in the U.S. as Most Wanted Man in the World; it was initially screened in France in 1953 as L'Ennemi Public No. 1.
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Keywords
danger, arrest, clerk, criminal, gangster, infamy, locked-up, man, mistaken-identity, movie-theater, police, public, release, rescue, role-switching, stage, street, walking, wanted-man, weapons
