While it may lack the poetry and depth of the French noir masterpieces, Pierre Chenal’s Rafles sur la ville (US: Sinners of Paris) is a fast-paced procedural and a cynical study of the dissolution of sacred bonds (family, matrimony, professional partnership). Michel Piccoli stars as police inspector Vardier, who’s been assigned a rookie partner named Gil Barot (François Guerin) in the wake of his previous partner’s murder by gangster “Le Fondu” (Charles Vanel). Now leading the department’s efforts to find and nail Fondu, who carries a grenade with him at all times, Vardier blackmails Fondu’s nephew, a young pimp called “Le Niçois” (Marcel Mouloudji), to keep him informed about Fondu’s whereabouts and his planned heist of a fur company. Danik Patisson plays Lucie Barot, Gil’s beautiful wife and a tempting romantic challenge for Vardier; Picolli’s smooth seduction skills are impressive even if, narratively speaking, his falling in love with Lucie may seem a bit rushed and unearned. Dark cobblestone streets and screaming jazz interludes combine to create plenty of unmistakably noir moments.