In Bay of Angels, French new wave director Jacques Demy gives us Jeanne Moreau at her best. This 1964 production is the second feature from Demy, and has rarely been seen due to the deterioration of the film stock. In two award winning and better known films later in the decade, (The Umbrellas of Cherbourg and The Young Girls of Rochefort) Demy loosely links similar characters and events to Bay of Angels and Lola as they tell separate stories of life on the French Mediterranean coast. Although basically told from the point of view of Jean (Claude Mann) it is Jackie's (Jeanne Moreau) story about the nature of compulsive gambling. When she is on screen, which is a lot of the time, Moreau's peroxide blonde presence is so great we can't take our eyes off her.

Jean Fournier is a straight shooter who works in a bank and lives with his widowed father. He is persuaded to have a fling by a co-worker who has had a lucky streak. They first see Jackie at a casino in Nice as she is being escorted out and asked not return. Divorced from her wealthy husband, she has a young child but the attraction of the tables is far more compelling. After Jean has some high stakes luck, he moves to the Riviera and he meets Jackie at a roulette table where she feels he has brought her luck. In flawless Pierre Cardin clothes, she introduces Jean to a lavish life style where the best is the only way to go.

Jean is swept away more by his attraction and love for her than he is by the gambling. Jackie however, lives to gamble, even playing alone on a miniature roulette wheel she keeps in her suitcase when she is tapped out. Reforming and relapsing several times, they both vow to quit. They are too good together for their own salvation. Jean likes excitement and money but grows uneasy with the uncertainty of the life. Jackie remains more of an enigma. We want to stay her hand when she places the last large bet, feel her desperation when she can borrow no more money from former husband or friends (one who has moved away to Cherbourg to open an umbrella shop with her daughter). Demy leaves it unclear if love will conquer the addiction.

The driving Michel Legrand score punctuates the highs and lows as numerous small fortunes are won and lost. Legrand's jazz sound works to turn up the heat as the stakes are raised and the players are on a roll. The new black and white prints, lovingly restored by Demy's former wife and accomplished film director, Agnes Varda (The Gleaners and I) are stunning.

Jeanne Moreau: Jackie Demaistre	Claude Mann: Jean Fournier
Director: Jacques Demy	Music: Michel Legrand