Smuggler's Ball

Overview

Smuggler's Ball is the English-language title for this French-Belgian seriocomedy. The action takes place along the borders separating Belgium, Holland and France. It is here that the worldly Pierre (J. P. Kieran) carries on a profitable smuggling operation, all the while romancing Siska (Christian Lenier), the daughter of a local customs official. Various subplots and secondary characters weave in and out as the plotline guides the viewer through the WW II years. Towards the end, the story shifts gears when the Benelux Frontier Agreement eliminates all government regulations. The film's screenplay is by Charles Spaak, himself the descendant of a Belgian political family, and thus well-versed in bureaucracy and red tape.

Cast

Françoise Rosay

Gabrielle Demeuse

Jean-Pierre Kérien

Pierre

Christiane Lénier

Siska van Moll

Daniel Ivernel

Jef - le délégué syndical

Yves Deniaud

Le brigadier Achille Van Moll

Eva Ingeborg Scholz

Elsa Menzler

Karl John

Hans

Käthe Haack

Moeder van Elsa

Kurt Großkurth

Dikke Charles

André Valmy

Le douanier Louis