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Backfire (1964 film)

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Backfire
Film poster
Directed byJean Becker
Screenplay byJean Becker
Maurice Fabre
Didier Goulard
Luis Marquina
Claude Sautet
dialogue
Daniel Boulanger
Based onthe novel by Clet Coroner
Produced byPaul-Edmond Decharme
StarringJean-Paul Belmondo
Jean Seberg
Enrico Maria Salerno
CinematographyEdmond Séchan
Edited byMonique Kirsanoff
Music byGrégorio García Ségura
Martial Solal
Production
companies
Capotole Movies
South Pacific Films
Distributed byCCFC (France)
Royal Films International (US)
Release date
  • 4 September 1964 (1964-09-04) (France)
Running time
97 mins
CountryFrance
LanguageFrench
Box office2,007,088 admissions (France)[1]

Backfire (French: Échappement libre, Italian: Scappamento aperto, Spanish: A escape libre) is a 1964 French crime film directed by Jean Becker, which stars Jean-Paul Belmondo and Jean Seberg, reuniting for the first time since Breathless (1960).

Plot

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A criminal organisation offers a Parisian man, David, $10,000 to transport a car across Europe. They tell him little about it except that drugs are not involved. He is accompanied by a photographer, Olga.

David discovers he is smuggling gold. The two travel to Beirut then Damascus. They fall in love and David wants the gold for himself.

Cast

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Production

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The film was made by the same team who had produced Banana Peel (1963).

It was to have starred Jean Louis Trintignant but he withdrew and was replaced by Belmondo.[2]

Filming took place from February 10 to April 7, 1964. Costa-Gavras was an assistant director.[1]

Reception

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The film was the 19th most popular movie at the French box office in 1964.[3]

In 2020 Fimink wrote "The film’s existence is ideal useless trivia to annoy people with now that the Jean Seberg biopic has come out."[4]

References

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  1. ^ a b "Box office information for Backfire". Box Office Story. Retrieved 1 September 2016.
  2. ^ Coates-Smith, Michael; McGee, Garry (4 May 2012). The Films of Jean Seberg. McFarland. p. 89. ISBN 9780786490226.
  3. ^ "1964 French box office". Box Office Story. Retrieved 28 August 2016.
  4. ^ Vagg, Stephen (February 3, 2020). "Top 10 Unmemorable Films Starring Legendary Screen Couples". Filmink.
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