The World's Most Beautiful Swindlers

Anthology films—comprised of thematically-linked shorts helmed by different (often famous) filmmakers—were ubiquitous in the 1960s. The World's Most Beautiful Swindlers (1964) features four segments, each set in a different city, made by international directors (originally, five films were made, but Roman Polanski's contribution was removed at the request of the director). Hiromichi Horikawa directs a sexy tale set in Tokyo about a bar girl (Mie Hama) going home with a rich old miser who carries his cash around in a satchel—leading to an attempted swindle that doesn't go how one might expect. The Naples chapter, directed by Ugo Gregoretti, is a social satire about a racket to obtain resident status for prostitutes through sham marriages to poor retirees, a scam that ultimately collapses in jealousy, greed, and betrayal. The final two films are from French New Wave directors Claude Chabrol and Jean-Luc Godard. Chabrol's film, a lighthearted lark about French con artists (Jean-Pierre Cassel and Catherine Deneuve) who steer a Francophile German businessman into buying the Eiffel Tower, is a breezy, meandering lark far different from the director's thrillers and psychological dramas, while Godard's entry, set and shot in Marrakesh with Breathless star Jean Seberg as an American TV reporter and Charles Denner as a currency counterfeiter, delivers a Godardian lecture on colonialism, poverty, and media. A minor film brimming with ‘60s style and attitude and including a theme song sung by Serge Gainsbourg, this is a strong optional purchase. (S. Axmaker)