When you take an International Cinema class, normally during the week on France, the instructor’s lesson is deeply fixated on the New Wave movement. The film following the lecture will be one of the masterpieces from those former movie critics turned filmmakers. And you can’t blame the instructor since it was a vital era with so major names. This focus does a bit of a disservice to the various French directors who weren’t considered part of the gang, but were actively working at the time. Robert Hossein directed several films during this era and yet is not on any of the lists of New Wave members. He rose up in the industry as an actor originally. You might know him from the crime masterpiece Rififi (which has played on Turner Classic Movies’ Noir Alley). Wicked Games – Three Films By Robert Hossein shows he was a cinematic triple threat as leading man, director and screenwriter.
The Wicked Go To Hell (1955 -93 minutes) opens inside a prison during a prayer meeting on the catwalks while another prisoner is being executed. This leads to a bit of conflict inside the prison wall as the grapevine believes one of two men are snitches who have been feeding info to the warden. Cellmates Macquart (Be Beautiful But Shut Up‘s Henri Vidal) and Rudel (The Leopard‘s Serge Reggiani) feel the pressure building. The prisoners seem eager to not choose between the two. This includes Fred (Hossein) who is eager to add to his body count. The two hatch a scheme to escape prison and head to the coast. It’s there that they end up hiding in a remote beach house with Eva (Nudes In A White Car‘s Marina Vlady) as their hostage. This is when their plan completely unravels as both men are eager to be with her. The Wicked Go To Hell was Robert Hossein’s directorial debut. He truly takes us on a journey to hell with his escaped convicts. We also get a vengeful angel in Marina Vlady. This is the kind of movie I want to see Eddie Muller introduce on Turner Classic Movie’s Noir Alley when he does his foreign film month. Although you should see it on this boxset with the other two films from Hossein.
Nudes In A White Car (1959 – 93 minutes) starts out with Pierre Menda (Hossein) walking along the water and heading up to the road. A white car pulls over with a blond behind the wheel. She offers a ride that quickly turns into her exposing herself to him. But things get weird when she pulls out a gun. Pierre gets out of the car and watches the mystery woman drive away after she almost runs him over. He eventually tracks down the car to a beautiful villa. Inside are the Lecain sisters who don’t seem like the lady from the night before. Eva (Chimes At Midnight‘s Marina Vlady) is confined to a wheelchair and Hélène (To Paris with Love‘s Odile Versois) is too sweet to be the crazed woman behind the wheel. They recognize Pierre from his TV gigs and offer to let him stay at the villa as their guests. Seeing how he lost his cash at the casino, he’s more than willing to be their guest. This also allows him to probe the mystery of who was behind the wheel of the car. Was it a sister or a kinky joyrider? The film is a real family affair since at the time Hossein was married to Marina Vlady and Odile Versois is her sister. He really was dealing with siblings in the mansion.
The Taste of Violence (1961 – 86 minutes) is an early Euro Western with Hossein playing a Mexican revolutionary fighting in a wild west that’s really the former Yugoslavia. Perez (Hossein) and his men ambush a train carrying Maria (What Did You Do In the War, Daddy?‘s Giovanna Ralli), the daughter of the country’s president. She’s going to be escorted across country to see the rebel leader. Along with Perez is his man Chamaco (The Bird With the Crystal Plumage’s Mario Adorf). Things get treacherous on the road through the dangerous countryside. The president’s troops are looking for her. There are also a few revolutionaries who are tempted to just use the daughter for ransom. Is Perez going to fall through with his mission or make his own abrupt change with Maria. The Taste of Violence is an extremely beautiful black and white film even with the rough subject matter. There’s a chilling shot where to characters are walking down a city street lined with the executed and hanging bodies of revolutionaries. Cinematographer Jacques Robin was the cameraman on Diabolique. The movie helped set the tone for the Spaghetti Western by showing you can make one in Europe and feature a storyline that Hollywood westerns (or TV episodes) wouldn’t tackle.
Wicked Games – Three Films By Robert Hossein is a remarkable short retrospective of what Hossein brought to the screen as an actor and filmmaker. The biggest problem with the French New Wave hype is that you’re given the impression that all the other movies being made in France during that era are schlock worth ignoring. Yet here are three films by Robert Hossein that show him as a triple threat who made films that weren’t stuck in the classical past. He attempted to revolutionize and entertain audiences. I’m thrilled that this boxset collects three of the 15 theatrical films he directed over his long career. Don’t wait for your instructor’s French cinema talk – do your extra credit work and enjoy Wicked Games – Three Films By Robert Hossein.
The Video is 1.33:1 full from for The Wicked Go To Hell, 1.66:1 anamorphic for Nudes In A White Car, 2.35:1 for Taste of Violence. All three films have been restored to their lush black and white glory. The Audio for all three films is LPCM 1.0 mono in French.
Illustrated Booklet includes essays by Walter Chow & interviews with Hossein. They give a greater sense of actor-director’s career and films.
Audio Commentary by Tim Lucas on all three films gets into how Hossein made his movies. There’s plenty of background on crew and other actors.
The Wicked Go To Hell
Picking Strawberries (14:52) has Lucas Balbo go into the making of the film. There’s footage of Robert Hossein and Jean Rollin. He gets into the mystery of what happened to the original director before Hossein took over the shoot. He wasn’t trained to direct films, but picked up things from acting on the set.
Behind Marked Eyes: The Cinematic Stare of Robert Hossein (27:04) has Howard S. Berger dive into the actor/director’s career. There’s focus on how his acting career got him into the director’s chair. The posters of his theatrical features are shown. He worked in various genres.
Trailer (3:19) shows that this about criminals, women with guns and car wrecks plus a touch of love and desire.
Nude In A White Car
Marina Vlady (8:34) is an interview with the actress from 2014. She talks about her numerous films she did with Robert Hossein. They had a five-year marriage that felt like 20 years was packed into it. They remained close afterward. She talks about his approach to cinema. She recounts making the film.
The Evolution of the Femme Fatale In Classic French Cinema (16:39) is a visual essay from Samm Deighan about the tempting woman who drives a man to crime in a Noir. She links the end of Hollywood’s classic Noir era and how the attitudes took hold in France. We see how Robert Hossein used two Femme Fatales in his movie.
Trailer (2:38) lets us know that something strange is happening in this French town.
The Taste of Violence
Alex Cox (7:24) has the director of Repo Man and massive Spaghetti Western fan discuss the film. Cox defends Hossein as not being a director stuck in the pasts compared his New Wave peers. He compares this film to Hossein’s Cemetery Without Crosses. He points out that this is not a Spaghetti Western since they shot the film in Yugoslavia instead of Spain. He’s a fan of the film. He also lets us know about Hossein being in a certain Sergio Leone western.
C. Courtney Joyner (26:24) talks about the movie being part of the Zapata Westerns. It was the first film that dealt with the Mexican revolution even though the film doesn’t say which country is being portrayed. He gets into the circumstances around the film’s production.
Trailer (2:54) takes Hossein to the wild west although the focus is on the couple and not the six shooter.
Radiance Films present Wicked Games – Three Films By Robert Hossein. Directed by Robert Hossein. Screenplays by Robert Hossein and others. Starring Robert Hossein, Marina Vlady, Henri Vidal, Serge Reggiani, Odile Versois, Giovanna Ralli, Mario Adorf, Hans H. Neubert, Madeleine Robinson, Dany Jacquet Boxset Contents: 3 movies on 3 Blu-ray discs. Rating: Unrated. Release Date: November 18, 2025.
