
Le dos au mur (Back to the Wall). 1958. France. Directed by Édouard Molinaro. Screenplay by François Chavane, Frédéric Dard, Jean Redon, Jean-Louis Roncoroni. With Jeanne Moreau, Gérard Oury, Philippe Nicaud. 93 min.
Best known as a director of commercial comedies (La cage aux folles), Édouard Molinaro began his career with a series of taut, bitter films noirs, the first of which was this stunningly cynical piece about a businessman (Gérard Oury, himself to become a successful director of comedies) who takes his own sweet time to plan an elaborate revenge on his unfaithful wife (Moreau).