The cinema of lost ideals, the romantic fatalism of the thirties, held sway well into the sixties. Seeing Casque d'or, one can see why this film, though rarely shown, is recognized as Jacques Becker's masterpiece, and why Becker was a hero for the New Wave directors. (The film anticipates Shoot the Piano Player by a decade.) With a fluidity that almost defies narrative plotting, Becker unfolds a tale of love doomed by its setting, the Paris demimonde at the turn of the century. A young Simone Signoret is sensual and sassy as the gigolette, Marie, who abandons her gangster mec for an honest carpenter, Manda (Serge Reggiani). Becker calls up the spirit of Auguste Renoir to create a setting (by the river at Joinville) for the lovers' meeting, and later, for a brief lifetime of happiness in scenes of heart-stopping sensuality. Signoret, with her "golden helmet" (casque d'or) of hair, glows; Reggiani's impassiveness is all the more moving for his ability to fuse with her.