Our series explores how the cinema of lost ideals-the French cinema of romantic fatalism or poetic realism in the thirties-held sway well into the sixties. These noirs and policiers are less action films than mood pieces, characterized by betrayal and alienation, and characters who have, within themselves, a tragic destiny. 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 nouvelle vague directors. (This film predicts 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 radiant, 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" of hair, glows; Reggiani's impassiveness is all the more moving for his ability to fuse with her.