Art forgery may seem like a highfalutin subject for film noir, but Gilles Grangier’s Reproduction Interdite does a satisfactory job of wringing tragic tension, if not nonstop action, from a tale of three art experts profiting off a series of counterfeit works ostensibly painted by Paul Gauguin (the film shares its title with a 1937 painting by Belgian surrealist René Magritte). Down-on-his-luck art dealer Mark Kelber (Paul Frankeur) is ecstatic when amateur collector Jacques Lacroix asks him to value a painting, which, unknown to Lacroix, turns out to be a genuine Gauguin. Kelber buys the painting from Lacroix for a relative steal, but when he later discovers that he’s taken home a forged copy, he races back to Lacroix’s house only to find he’s disappeared. Prepared for revenge, Kelber instead goes into business with the forger and his copyist, the unstable, alcoholic Claude Watroff (Giani Esposito) whose later change of heart may cost a life or two. In a surprisingly minor part, Annie Girardot plays Watroff’s wife Viviane, while the arguably more interesting female role goes to Jacqueline Noëlle, who plays Kelber’s wife Clara, who stands by her husband through his financial and emotional turmoil. Grangier goes for maximum drama in the final act, using closeups, deep focus, low angles, and shadows to heighten suspense as the characters get their just desserts (note Watroff’s deranged delight as he forms shadow puppets on the ceiling).