For many of us, the siren-like appeal of the Cote d’Azure is quite dangerous. It is very easy to so enjoy the life of the riviera that we, like Ulysses in the land of the lotus eaters, don’t want to leave – ever!

This is the famed harbor at Monaco, looking out to the Palace from the Hotel de Paris.

And thus begins the scheming, the toting up of all available resources, the search for a suitable apartment or villa and, unless you are substantially wealthy, a job or undertaking that would financially support such a lifestyle.

In the beginning, it seems not unreasonable to believe that living in Cannes, let’s say, is within the realm of possibility.

After all, Cannes is an international city with international needs – many languages are spoken and I would say that learning to speak French is relatively easy within this context; and, in any event, you are able to get by with only speaking English with relative ease.

Each city, town and village is studded with real esate offices.

So it is that many, many people move to this “paradise” to live “La Dolce Vita” – the sweet life! But, of course, this is a very attractive idea and for all the honest, hardworking Italian, American or Englishmen who pursue this dream there is a significantly high percentage of conmen, poseurs and frauds that, by their very nature and by the very nature of the population of the cote d’azure, also pursue it!

Nothing may be what it seems in all of life but here in Cannes such an idea is a maxim. And the Riviera doesn’t just attract the professional swindlers and criminals. Many individuals who begin with the best intentions are forced by circumstance to start shading the truth, bending the rules of accepted commerce and to generally become part of a false and illusory world whose primary intention ends up being to deceive the gullible.

My friend Gianni describes the typical young Italian male who has been seduced by the riviera lifestyle. After a few years of disheartening lack of success in establishing himself, he is reduced to a tiny, studio apartment far away from the Croisette, a single “knock-off” Armani suit with it’s knees too shiny from repeated ironings along with a distinct, never to be erased, body odor and an embarrassing scooter to take him to and fro as he fronts ever increasingly impossible schemes. The indisputable fact is that Cannes is for the wealthy – all others are visitors or, for the most part, hard-working participants in the very large and demanding service industries.

Le Senequier of St Tropez is one of the most famous and most photographed cafes in the world,
and is representative of the sweet life on the Riviera.

Dreams can die hard here.

The movie? Stephen Frears got it right, I think, when he teamed up with Martin Scorsese for “The Grifters” – and, for comic relief, “Dirty Rotten Scoundrels” starring Michael Caine and Steve Martin as competing confidence men operating on our very own French Riviera.

And the recently released “The Hoax” starring Richard Gere and directed by Lasse Hallstrom; the outrageous story of Clifford Irving who shocked and rocked the world with his fictitious biography of Howard Hughes. Irving’s outlandlish swindle fell apart after publication, he went to prison for a few years and ended his days telling the story of his great hoax!

Movie Review:

The Grifters

Directed by Stephen Frears, Produced by Martin Scorcese — Columbia Pictures 1949
Starring: Angelica Huston, John Cusack, and Annette Bening

There is a saying that is current and it goes something like this – “most of us take the easier, softer way” – even when it is demonstrated, sometimes quite dramatically, that this approach rarely succeeds.

Of course, if you then add high stakes to the mix, some element of illegality along with questionable associates, you are almost certainly heading for personal disaster.

But, “the easier, softer way” is appealing!

Thus, if our dreams of the glamorous life of the cote d’azure seem to be fading, retreating just beyond our grasp – through no real fault of our own; just bad luck or the wrong timing – then, for some of us, it could start to appear reasonable, if not expected, to shorten our odds a bit and make it (the dreams) happen!

That’s when the con, or the grift or the swindle begins to make sense and the risks acceptable.

“The Grifters” is an excellent movie whose bona fides are beyond reproach. Starting with Jim Thompson, many of whose pulp, noir novels, I have just reread. His world of the 40’s and 50’s is populated with utter boneheads, the greedy, the unscrupulous, the desperate and the downright nasty – I grew up then and recognize some of these characters!

“Bleak and fascinating,” says Leonard Maltin, the film critic.

The Grifters are Lilly, Roy, and Myra. (Huston, Cusack, and Bening.)

Martin Scorsese was originally to direct but deferred to Stephen Frears who doesn’t disappoint for a moment. Annette Bening fashions herself after the “pouty” noir roles of Gloria Grahame while John Cusack infuses his role with just enough vulnerability that he captures, at least to some extent, our sympathy.

But, it is the frosty, apparently nerveless Lilly, Roy’s mother, played with cold fire by Angelica Huston that defines the movie for me.

For Lilly, there appear to be no moral barriers and, except for Bobo, her boss, no one that truly frightens her. Lilly carries out her con relentlessly and seamlessly with her life, not knowing nor desiring any other way. Her only goal is to accumulate money while remaining safe from harm – no mean feat in this game!

Roy has been caught.

She has little interest in Roy, although she saves his life in a particularly calculated and brutal fashion. She is openly skeptical concerning his desire to quit the life. In a shocking denoument to the film, a terrible accident takes place but it still doesn’t stop Lilly from resuming her escape from Bobo and, presumably, continuing the “ life “ in another incarnation.

Lilly’s life of easy money is not without consequence/abuse.

But, for me, it is Myra (Annette Bening), who represents the essential wildness and lunacy of the grifter life. I suppose that it’s a maxim that no one likes to be cheated and if you take into consideration that most who are cheated are cheaters themselves, then the reprisals are likely to be vicious and without mercy.

Identifying the body in Phoenix.

Myra reminds me of James Lee Burke’s contention that “most criminals break into jail rather than out of it.”

Bening, in a sexually-charged, oscar-nominated performance, combines just the right amount of greed, lunacy and personal disregard that should warn anybody off any type of such games — large or small — for fear that someone like her might be part of the mix.

However, I had my share of liaisons with “dark and dangerous” women – witness Issue #38 "Eze" along with “Dinner Rush.” Easy money and beautiful (but deranged) women have a certain attraction.

No more.

Movie Review:

Dirty Rotten Scoundrels

Directed by Frank Oz — Orion Pictures Company 1988
Starring: Michael Caine and Steve Martin

A very solid comedy, with many excellent laughs, that has, at its center, the conflict between two professional "confidence men," played of course by Michael Caine and Steve Martin.

This hilarious "war" takes place in the fictitious Riviera city of "Beaumont sur Mer" — modeled on so many places such as Beausoeil, Cagnes Sur Mer, St. Jean Cap Farrat and so on. The basic plot sets Lawrence Jamieson (Caine) against Freddy Benson (Martin). Freddy is a smalltime conman trying to muscle in on the much more sophisticated Lawrence’s exclusivity on the "spoils" of Beaumont sur Mer.

"Scoundrel" is variously explained in the Webster dictionary as a "villain, bad person, or knave" while the suggested synonyms in the theasaurus include "reprobate, rascal, and rogue." The latter phrases best describe the charaters of Freddy and Lawrence because after all, it is a comedy.

To quote the New York Times, "a laugh-out-loud escapade! A joy to watch and a delight!"

"Dirty Rotten Scoundrels" is good fun while "The Grifters" is sleazy and dangerous, leaving "The Hoax" as a true story that resulted in a real swindle of significant proportions, and finally a real jolt of prison time.