Jean Gabin and Alain Delon certainly had a 'dynamic' in their two previous films for Henri Verneuil and as anticipated this third pairing proved successful at the box-office. This time round alas the director is José Giovanni. His contributions to the gangster genre as a writer, based upon his own criminal past, are indisputable and have been interpreted by some of the finest French directors and actors. As a director however he is nothing more than capable.

The main problem with this particular film is that in order to get his message across Giovanni has laid on the sentimentality with a trowel, almost embarassingly so. Adopting the role of moral crusader against the French judicial system and the death penalty is something that André Cayatte did much more subtly and to far greater effect. The film is further weakened by Philippe Sarde's syrupy score.

As for the performances Messieurs Gabin and Delon do what they do extremely well. As the ex-con trying unsuccessfully to shake off his past, Delon engages our sympathy and it is indeed ironic that he was supposedly in favour of capital punishment. Gabin never lost the compulsion to work but here he appears to have trouble staying awake. Not for the first time or indeed the last, it is the mesmerising Michel Bouquet who walks away with the film. He is utterly chilling as the odious Inspector Goitreau who pursues the Gino of Delon with a vengeance in the same way that Javert hounds Valjean. Of course Bouquet was to follow in the footsteps of Vanel, Laughton and Blier when playing that role opposite the Valjean of Lino Ventura.

Giovanni remained cagey about his past especially the time he spent on death row, understandably so, as he and a Vichy collaborator, blackmailer and convicted triple murderer named Joseph Damiani were eventually revealed to be one and the same man!

In view of this I would advise when watching his films to keep your moral compass handy. They say that crime doesn't pay but in his case it decidedly did.

Curiously enough, the central plot of this one is quite similar to that of ONCE A THIEF (1965; also starring Alain Delon and which I watched on the very same day) – though here it's even gloomier (ultimately taking the form of a plea against capital punishment)! Incidentally, co-writer/director Giovanni had been a convict in real-life, and even wrote the novel which inspired Jacques Becker's marvelous prison-escape drama LE TROU (1960).

Anyway, Delon and Jean Gabin are well-teamed here (this was the last of three films in which they appeared together, following ANY NUMBER CAN WIN [1963] and THE SICILIAN CLAN [1969]): the latter isn't particularly exerted by his role – being, after all, among his last – but the former is unusually committed and, in fact, he also served as the film's producer! Mimsy Farmer appears as Delon's new lover following the tragic death of his wife in a road accident; Michel Bouquet is memorable as the Javert-like police inspector who won't let Delon go (a slinky but nastier version of the Van Heflin part in ONCE A THIEF); Gerard Depardieu has a brief role at the beginning as a wannabe criminal associate of Delon's.

"Deux hommes dans la ville", a.k.a. "Two Men in Town", is a corny propaganda against death penalty in France based on an updated version of Les Misérables by Victor Hugo. Produced by Alain Delon and with the great Jean Gabin and Alain Delon in the lead roles, the film wants to show injustices in the French justice system, but it is absolutely manipulative. Alain Delon performs the likable Gino Strabliggi, a modern version of Jean Valjean, and Michel Bouquet performs the nasty Chief Inspector Goitreau, a modern version of Inspector Javert. The result is a good film with questionable intentions. The beauty of Mimsy Farmer is another attraction of this film. My vote is six.

Title (Brazil): "Dois Homens Contra uma Cidade" ("Two Men against a City")