(FIRE AND ICE, Alan Cavalier, France 1962, 104 min., French/subtitles)

In one of the forgotten treasures of the French nouvelle vague, the great Jean-Louis Trintingant stars as the wealthy son of an industrialist whose hidden identity is as a militant assassin for an underground right-wing army. When the crypto-fascist’s wife (Romy Schneider) begins to suspect something is awry, she also finds herself drawn to her husband’s liberal, and also oblivious, friend (Henri Serre, Jim from Jules et Jim). Produced by Louis Malle and barely released in the US, director Cavalier’s drama works as an intimate, human drama, as well as a political thriller.