MISSISSIPPI MERMAID (1969)

Cast

Plot

Truffaut's sexy, amoral thriller is a great example of his affection for Hitchcock. The ever-watchable Paul Belmondo plays a simple tobacco farmer, Louis, whose lonely life on Reuninon Island leads him to enter into a correspondence with a mail-order-bride type agency. Unfortunately, the woman who he sends for falls victim to a femme fatale, played by the ultimate knee-quaker, Catherine Deneuve, and she decides to play him for the sucker he is. Often slagged off as Truffaut off-form, this remains an underrated gem.