Casque d'Or (Golden Helmet) is a 1952 French film directed by Jacques Becker, starring Simone Signoret and Serge Reggiani. It is loosely based on the story of Amélie Élie, whose nickname was "Casque d'Or" because of her hair colour.
Paris, 1898. Roland is a gangster and a member of Leca's gang. His girlfriend Marie is angry with him and she falls in love with Manda, an ex-gangster who now tries to live an honest life. Manda and Marie meet several times and Roland is jealous about it. He confronts Manda in a knife fight. Manda kills him and he has to flee out of Paris. He joins Marie and they live happily together for some time. But the gang boss, Leca, covets Marie too, so he sets up a plan to get her.
Casque d'Or provides examples of:
- Almost Dead Guy: Raymond manages to live long enough to tell his fellow gangsters that Leca denounced him.
- Bar Brawl: Subverted. When Manda confronts Roland in a bar, it seems that a bar brawl is going to happen, but finally Manda and Roland are brought outside and they fight in a courtyard.
- Betty and Veronica:
- Marie (Archie) has to choose between Roland (Veronica), a violent gangster, and Manda (Betty), a nice guy who tries to live an honest life.
- Manda (Archie) has to choose between Marie (Veronica), a prostitute who is in a relationship with a gangster, and Léonie (Betty), the daughter of his boss.
- Clear Their Name: Manda killed Roland. He hears that his friend Raymond is accused of Roland's murder, so he goes to the police and he confesses his crime.
- Cock Fight: Between Manda and Roland for the love of Marie.
- Crazy Jealous Guy: Roland, who cannot stand that Marie has a crush on Manda. He provokes his rival and compels him to fight in a duel.
- Diegetic Switch: In the end, Le Temps des cerises is sung by a group of blind beggars, then the song keeps on playing, even when the beggars have left the scene.
- Downer Ending: Raymond is killed by the police. Manda is beheaded. Marie is desperate.
- Duel to the Death: Between Roland and Manda for Marie's love. They fight with a knife. Roland is killed.
- The Edwardian Era: The story is set in the first years of the 20th century.
- Frameup: Leca frames Raymond for Roland's murder.
- The Guards Must Be Crazy: The escape of Raymond and Manda is very easy. The policemen keeping a watch on them are not very clever.
- The Hero Dies: Manda is beheaded in the end.
- Historical Hero Upgrade: The real Manda was not a hero. He was a violent gangster who assaulted Leca several times because Leca had a relationship with Casque d'Or, his ex-girlfriend.
- Historical Villain Upgrade: The real Leca was a gangster, but not an evil one as the one of the film. He just started a relationship with Casque d'Or. Manda, her ex-boyfriend, assaulted him several times because he was jealous.
- Honor Among Thieves: Leca's gang does not denounce Manda, even if he killed Roland, one of the members. Even when Raymond, another member of the gang, is wrongly accused of Roland's murder, they do not denounce Manda and Raymond himself does not either. When Manda hears that Raymond is in prison, he surrenders to the police. Subverted with Leca, who pretends to be loyal to his fellow gangsters, but secretly denounced Raymond to the police.
- Just Got Out of Jail: Manda has served his time in prison and now he tries to live an honest life as a carpenter. He is dragged into a deadly duel with a gangster.
- Love at First Sight: Between Manda and Marie.
- Manipulative Bastard: Leca, who wants to get Marie and who knows Manda is a nice guy. So, he frames up Manda's friend Raymond for Roland's murder and he tells Manda that Raymond is in prison. So Manda surrenders to the police and Marie begs for Leca's help. Leca knows that he can ask her anything, so he asks to have sex with her. Thereafter, he tells her that he cannot do anything to help Manda.
- Mating Dance: Just after meeting Manda and staring at him while dancing with Roland, Marie asks to dance with Manda. Their dance is very sensual. In the epilogue, we see Manda and Marie dancing again in the same place, but this time they are alone.
- Mugging the Monster: Roland provokes Manda and compels him to fight in a duel. He is very confident, since he is a gangster and Manda is just a carpenter, but Manda is a retired gangster and he is very good at knife fight. He kills Roland.
- Murder the Hypotenuse: Manda kills his rival, Roland.
- Retired Badass: Manda now is just a carpenter, but he was a gangster and a terrific knife fighter.
- Retired Outlaw: Manda was a gangster. He has served his time in prison and now he tries to live an honest life as a carpenter.
- Revenge: After Raymond's death, Manda wants to avenge him, so he goes after Leca. In his quest, he discovers that Leca forced Marie to have sex with him, which reinforces his determination. Finally, he finds Leca and kills him.
- Scarpia Ultimatum: Manda is in prison and Marie thinks that Leca is the only one who can help him. So she begs for his help. Leca asks to have sex with her. Thereafter, he tells her that he cannot do anything to help Manda.
- So Beautiful, It's a Curse: Marie's problems come from the fact that all the guys want her. Roland does not want to let her go. Later, Leca wants to get her at all costs.
- Star-Crossed Lovers: Manda and Marie falls in love. First, they cannot be together because Marie is in a relationship with a violent gangster, Roland. Manda confronts and kills Roland. He has to flee, but eventually he joins Marie and they can live happily together, but only for a short time. Soon, Manda hears that his friend Raymond is accused of a murder he committed, so he surrenders to the police. He escapes from the prison, but he cannot stay with Marie: he has to avenge his friend Raymond and he is arrested again.
- Very Loosely Based on a True Story: Based on the story of Amélie Élie
(1878-1933) and the Manda-Leca affair, but the events are deeply modified to make Manda a hero and Leca a villain.
