Cartouche

Cartouche (1962) — watch online Philippe de Broca's swashbuckling French-Italian adventure, with Jean-Paul Belmondo at his most effortlessly charming and Claudia Cardinale as the woman who might be his undoing. Eighteenth-century Paris, rapiers, and a hero who robs from the rich because he genuinely enjoys it.

Louis de Bourguignon rebrands himself as Cartouche, builds his own crew, and runs rings around the police chief Ferrussac while his former partners work every angle against him. The film never pretends this is serious — Belmondo grins through the swordfights, the chases have a balletic looseness, and Cardinale's Venus turns out to be far more dangerous than any constable. Jean Rochefort shows up in a supporting role for those keeping score.

De Broca knew how to keep a film moving without ever feeling rushed. Cartouche is pure escapism with genuine wit behind it — the kind of adventure film that gets better the less you resist it. Stream Cartouche (1962) on iFILM.