Line #13 Film/TheWallsOfMalapaga


1	[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/d865ca6e_c832_4e75_8349_dcd3d2ebcfc9.jpeg]]
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3	''The Walls of Malapaga'' (''Au-delà des grilles'', French for "Beyond the Grating Doors") is a 1949 co-production between France and Italy, directed by Creator/ReneClement.
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5	Pierre (Creator/JeanGabin) is a Frenchman who is on the run after he murdered his girlfriend. He has escaped from France by paying a ship's captain to hide him in the anchor well of his ship, but as the ship enters Genoa, he is suffering terribly from a toothache. He is compelled to leave the ship and go into the city to find a dentist, even though the captain warns him that it will be difficult to return, since the gate to the docks is guarded.
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7	Pierre wanders around the city trying to find someone who speaks French and can take him to a dentist. Finally he runs into Cecchina, a girl of about 12 years of age who speaks French because she and her mother only recently arrived from Nice. Cecchina leads him to a dentist, who pulls his tooth. Having taken care of his tooth, Pierre goes to the cafe for dinner, where he meets Marta (Isa Miranda), a friendly waitress--and Cecchina's mother. Romance blooms between the lonely waitress and the fugitive, but the police are on Pierre's trail.
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9	----
10	!!Tropes:
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12	* AllGirlsWantBadBoys: Marta's estranged husband is an unstable psycho. She flees all the way to Italy to escape him, only to fall hard for Pierre the fugitive murderer.
13	* AndStarring: Vera Talchi (Cecchina) gets the "And Introducing" credit.
14	* ChekhovsGun / ChekhovsGunman: The pickpocket, and the counterfeit money that he gave to Pierre. Towards the end of the film the pickpocket is arrested, with Pierre's wallet still in his possession; that's how the cops know that Pierre the wanted fugitive is in Genoa. The counterfeit money is the ChekhovsGun, as that is how the cops trace Pierre to a particular cafe and find out that he's in the company of Marta.
15	* CounterfeitCash: A con man changes out Pierre's real French francs for some fake Italian lira. It's not clear why he bothered, as he's a PercussivePickpocket too, which is how he steals the rest of Pierre's roll.
16	* HeroAntagonist: The Italian police detective, who after all is trying to catch a murderer.
17	* IgnoredVitalNewsReports: Pierre and Marta are out and about in town, while the cops are establishing a dragnet in Marta's neighborhood. Cecchina sneaks out via underground passageway, and scrawls "ATTENTION: PIERRE" warnings all over the place. Somehow, Pierre and Marta miss a warning written on a stair that they are climbing.
18	* JailBake: DiscussedTrope. Marta the waitress brings a to-go order to the jail. The cops rip up the bread roll and confirm that there's nothing in it before
19	* OffIntoTheDistanceEnding: Marta and Cecchina walking up the steps after Pierre has been arrested.
20	* PercussivePickpocket: Pierre's situation is made more difficult when just such a pickpocket takes his wallet.
21	* ThePlace: The ruins of Genoa's medieval debtor's prison, called "Malapaga" (Italian for "bad payer"). Pierre and Marta go walking there.
22	* PsychoExGirlfriend: Giuseppe, Marta's abusive husband. He shows up in Genoa demanding that she and Cecchina return to France. After she refuses, he's in the process of strangling her when Pierre shows up and saves her.

Context Film / TheWallsOfMalapaga