La Traversée de Paris 1956

In Paris in 1942, under the German occupation, the unemployed taxi-driver Marcel Martin ekes out a precarious living by night, delivering parcels for the black market. One evening he must carry, on foot, four suitcases filled with pork across the city, slipping through the shadows to reach the basement of a grocer named Jambier, where he plays the accordion to mask the sounds while the meat is slaughtered. Martin then heads with his wife to the restaurant where he hopes to meet his accomplice, only to learn that the man has been arrested by the police.

A stranger arrives, and after a misunderstanding, Martin invites him to share the meal and take the place of his former partner. This decision proves calamitous, because the newcomer is not cooperative at all: the man, named Grandgil, soon makes his demands and sows trouble. He first presses for a drastic increase in payment, and then terrorizes the unfortunate grocer Jambier, adding to the tension by threatening the bar’s owners as the two hide with their suitcases of fresh meat to dodge paper checks.

Outside, a lone policeman stops them, and Grandgil head-butts the man to the ground. When two more officers approach, he shouts in German and the trio discreetly withdraws. The two continue, slipping into a hotel where Martin lives with his wife, and Grandgil makes a quick phone call, again speaking in German. An air raid erupts, forcing them to seek shelter in what turns out to be Grandgil’s apartment, and Martin is stunned to discover that his companion is, in fact, a world‑famous painter who joined mainly for his own amusement and who insists on returning the money he extorted.

When they finally reach their destination, the place is locked up. Frustration and fear mount, the noise drawing a German patrol that takes them to military headquarters. A German major recognizes the celebrated painter and is about to release the two when news arrives that a German colonel has been shot. All French suspects in the building are bundled into a truck, and the major manages to save only the painter.

Years later, Grandgil is leaving Paris for a holiday, and a porter carries his bags to the train. When the painter tips the porter, he realizes that the porter is Martin. “Still carrying suitcases?” the painter quips as the train pulls away.