Kenneth Fearing's 1946 crime thriller novel The Big Clock arrived on movie screens two years later and also found an updated adaptation in 1987 via the Kevin Costner hit No Way Out. Between these two, the story also enjoyed a French version in 1976 titled Police Python 357.

During an assignment, Inspector Marc Ferrot (Yves Montand) meets an intriguing woman named Sylvia Leopardi (Stefania Sandrelli). This leads to a romantic relationship between the pair.

Eventually Ferrot becomes jealous when he believes Sylvia also carries on with someone else. It turns out she does maintains an affair with his superior, married Commissioner Ganay (François Périer), a fact that haunts Ferrot when his boss accidentally kills Sylvia and the inspector ends up as the potential suspect.

Because I don't believe I've seen it since the 1980s, I don't maintain much memory of my reaction to No Way Out. However, I watched the 1948 Big Clock less than six years ago, and as the above-linked review indicates, I really liked it.

That left Python with large cinematic shoes to fill. Would it work as well as its predecessor?

No, for Clock enjoyed a noir energy that the more languid Python lacks. Nonetheless, it brings an intriguing twist on the source tale.

Whereas Clock offered a thrilling crime saga, Python offers a much sadder take on the narrative. This seems ironic given that it shows some influence from 1971’s classic Dirty Harry.

I suspect director Alain Corneau connected Ferrot to the famously insolent and violent Detective Callahan more as a sly joke than as an attempt to create a French Dirty Henri. Like Clint Eastwood’s iconic role, Ferrot prefers to work alone, spots a large pistol and boasts excellent marksmanship.

Heck, Corneau even chooses to make Ferrot wear the same kind of blazer Harry sports! But the similarities end there.

Indeed, Ferrot comes across as a funhouse mirror version of Callahan, an independent cop with major flaws. Ferrot seems lonely and ends up over his head when confronted with the need to steer the investigation away from himself.

Python takes a while to get to the crime that becomes its main focus, as Sylvia’s death doesn’t happen until about one-third of the way into the film. Up until that point, Python feels more like a romantic drama with an aura of obsession.

The movie explores those domains well and the shift of gears proves more effective because the flick’s first 40 minutes doesn’t really hint at the thriller elements yet to come. This doesn’t mean the film takes a turn that feels contrived, but it does allow the end result to give us an unexpected jolt.

When Python more fully embraces the crime side of things, it connects to Big Clock more clearly. The two feel different until that point – and remain different to a definite degree, as the French film offers shifts from its 1948 predecessor.

This allows it to stand on its own and become indelible. Montand resists the urge to play the strong super-cop and makes Ferrot more of a lonely sadsack, a choice that creates a nice genre twist.

The supporting actors also do well, and the pacing seems solid. Depressing as much of the movie tends to feel, some mild comedy enlivens the project at times, mainly when Ferrot tries to wiggle around the investigation and send junior colleague Inspector Ménard (Mathieu Carrière).

More a sad tragedy than a taut noir thriller, Python largely hits the mark. It creates an appealing variation on its themes.

Police Python 357 appears in an aspect ratio of approximately 1.66:1 on this Blu-ray Disc. The transfer gave us a pleasing representation of the source.

Overall delineation seemed good. Due to the nature of the photography, some mild softness occurred, but most of the film offered positive delineation and accuracy.

I saw no jaggies or shimmering, and edge haloes remained absent. Print flaws also failed to appear, and grain seemed fairly natural.

Colors leaned toward a subdued feel, with a lean toward the blue side. Though the hues didn’t impress, they felt fine for the image as intended.

Blacks were deep, and shadows demonstrated appealing clarity. This seemed like a solid presentation of this project.

Don’t expect a whole lot from the LPCM monaural soundtrack of Python. Not that I anticipated much from a mono mix created 49 years ago, of course.

Dialogue seemed decent and perfectly adequate. The lines could seem a bit reedy but they showed moderately natural tones and lacked edginess.

Music showed decent reproduction, though the score failed to bring real vivacity. Effects fell into the same domain, as they showed acceptable but restricted range.

No issues with hiss or background noise cropped up during the film. This became a more than adequate mix for a movie from 1976.

A few extras appear, and we find an audio commentary from film historian Mike White. He delivers a running, screen-specific look at the source novel and its adaptation, story/characters and the “serie noir” genre, themes and interpretation, cast and crew, and related topics.

White provides a fairly good commentary but not one that ever quite excels. While he gives us a generally positive overview, the track lacks the depth it needs to become memorable.

Maxim Jakubowski goes for 15 minutes, 11 seconds. It brings notes from writer Maxim Jakubowski.

He provides thoughts about director Alain Corneau as well as the source novel behind Python, its adaptation and some elements of the genre. Jakubowski adds to the material we learn in White’s commentary and makes this an efficient chat.

From 1976, we find a TV interview. Aired on a Belgian station, this five-minute, 31-second piece involves director Alain Corneau and actor François Périer.

The reel looks at the movie’s title, story/characters, and cast and performances. A few insights emerge, but the program seems too brief to tell us much.

Though based on a 1940s crime thriller, Police Python 357 offers a more tragic and downbeat tone than one might expect. This works and turns the flick into a depressing but still compelling character journey. The Blu-ray boasts very good picture, perfectly acceptable audio and a smattering of bonus materials. Python provides an interesting twist on the noir genre.

Note that this version of Police Python 357 appears as part of a set called “Hardboiled: Three Pulp Thrillers by Alain Corneau”. In addition to Python, it includes 1979’s A Hell of a Woman and 1981’s Choice of Arms.