The Crime of Monsieur Lange

Director Jean Renoir's social commentary, heavily influenced by the French political spirit of the 1930s, concerns Amédée Lange (René Lefevre), a publishing house clerk who pens Western dime-novels in his spare time. When his unscrupulous boss, Batala (Jules Berry), gives his debt collectors the slip by pretending to be dead, Lange and his co-workers take over the business themselves and thrive on the popularity of Lange's pulp stories until Batala returns to demand his share of the profits.