Vertigo for a Killer (Blu-ray Review)
Director
Jean-Pierre DesagnatRelease Date(s)
1970 (June 9, 2026)Studio(s)
Centro Film/Paris Cannes Productions/CFDC-Sirius/UGC-Pathé (Kino Lorber Studio Classics)- Film/Program Grade: B+
- Video Grade: A
- Audio Grade: A
- Extras Grade: B-
Review
Not bad, Vertigo for a Killer (Vertige pour un tueur, 1970) starts well but at about the halfway point strains credibility to the breaking point for a couple of reels, before redeeming itself somewhat, though the final scene disappoints. The film stars Marcel Bozzuffi as a hitman on the run after refusing to fulfil a contract on his friend, René (Michel Constantin, in an extended cameo). Bozzuffi, of course, is best remembered playing another hitman, pursued by Gene Hackman in director William Friedkin’s The French Connection (1971). It’s not impossible Friedkin cast Bozzuffi based on his performance here.
Immediately after gunman Marc Régent (Bozzuffi) deliberately misses his target, within spitting distance of the Eiffel Tower, gang leader Barcus (Jean Lucciani), who ordered the hit, demands Régent killed immediately, but during the ambush he guns down Barcus’s adult son, the father vowing revenge. Soon after, he’s also being sought by the police, his picture in all the papers.
He manages to hide out at a hotel catering to prostitutes, run by Juan (Robert Dalban, in a good, low-key performance), where René manages to deliver to Régent weapons and money—regrettably, the phoniest-looking stage money in movie history—via an American sailor courier (Alan Scott). He now has plenty of money to buy an airplane ticket, but when he tries to flee the country, at the airport Barcus’s men are everywhere, causing him to miss his flight, while during the mayhem he encounters Sylvie Dussort (Sylva Koscina), she seeing off her husband, Phillippe (Marx Cassot). Later, hiding out in the airport parking lot as Barcus’s gangsters close in, Sylvie, despite seeing Régent’s picture on the front page of a newspaper, illogically offers him a ride, further inviting him to stay indefinitely at her French Riviera châteaux.
It’s at this point that Vertigo for a Killer begins to fall apart. At the châteaux, Sylvie acts very suspiciously, garrulous and flirtatious, and obviously has ulterior motives. Further, at the châteaux, the movie audience is made aware of a man hiding in the shadows, with Sylvie fooling no one but Régent that the noises he’s hearing are just the family cat. Up to this point, Vertigo for a Killer had been a strong thriller; the deliberately botched hit, the attempt on Régent’s life, the long set-piece at the airport—all good.
But, abruptly, the film becomes absurdly unbelievable. Why is the super-cautious Régent suddenly blind to Sylvie’s blatantly obvious deceptions and manipulations? There’s a suggestion that his judgement is clouded by Sylvie’s sexual toying—and Sylva Koscina is unquestionably gorgeous. But the filmmakers ask its audience to accept far too much. Maybe if the shadowy figure hadn’t been revealed so early, and if Koscina’s character had been even a little subtler and more ambiguous, director Jean-Pierre Desagnat might have pulled it off.
The film recovers some once Sylvie’s plans are revealed, and there’s a lot of good suspense after, though the picture’s conclusion doesn’t satisfy, either. Without revealing anything, it’s not a terrible ending, but the narrative just kind of stops dead in its tracks. The End.
Marcel Bozzuffi was typecast playing hitmen both before and after this, almost always in supporting roles, though he sometimes played tough police detectives and other types of characters, and he was in constant demand, often from the greatest French directors.
Like Vinegar Syndrome’s release of Without Apparent Motive, Kino’s Vertigo for a Killer makes excellent use of its Nice locales, as well as pre-dawn Paris at the beginning. Odd is the guitar/harmonica-heavy musical score by singer-songwriter Romuald (Figuier), seemingly more appropriate to a Euro-Western than a modern-day thriller, though somehow it plays against the action onscreen well.
Licensed from StudioCanal, which provided a 2023 4K scan of the original 35mm camera negative, Kino’s Blu-ray of Vertigo for a Killer looks great in 1.66:1 widescreen, with excellent sharpness, color, and contrast. The DTS-HD Master Audio (2.0 mono, French only) is also above average, and supported by good (and optional) English subtitles. The disc itself is Region “A” encoded.
Extras are limited to a rather casual audio commentary chat with mystery writer Max Allan Collins and film historian Heath Holland.
Except for that 20-minute stretch of incredulity, Vertigo for a Killer is above average, and it’s nice to see star Marcel Bozzuffi playing a leading role. Recommended.
- Stuart Galbraith IV