Carambolages (1963)

The story takes place at the headquarters of “321,” an agency specializing in organizing entertainment, vacations, and leisure activities. The company’s management and senior employees have ultra-modern offices in an upscale building about ten stories high. Junior employees are found on the ground floor, while at the very top, the president occupies the entire top floor and presides over his business. An ambitious young employee at the very bottom of the ladder, Paul Martin is engaged to Danielle, the daughter of one of his superiors, Mr. Brossard. Chafing under a dull daily routine and occasional humiliations at the hands of executives and several women at the company, he begins dreaming of his future father-in-law’s impending departure, hoping to take over his position, since Brossard is close to retirement. Certain that he will get this almost-immediate promotion, Paul goes into debt, among other things to cultivate the image of a dynamic young employee. But Mr. Brossard’s planned departure is suddenly postponed, and Paul must therefore resort to other, more direct methods. He has to do everything he can to make a position open up in the hierarchy above him, so that he can benefit from the game of musical chairs and move up. Despite congratulations from the managing director, Norbert Charolais, nothing progresses. Young Martin learns that Charolais’s wife is having an affair with the secretary-general, Beaumanoir, and sets about writing an anonymous letter exposing them and provoking a scandal. But this attempt is futile and has no effect. The ambitious young man is torn between his very attractive secretary, who is in love with him, and his fiancée, who is becoming increasingly domineering toward him. Suddenly, the situation is resolved. Seeking revenge on Beaumanoir, managing director Charolais accidentally kills himself while setting a trap for him. Other sudden deaths follow, allowing young Martin to climb the ranks and the floors. Under the watch of a clumsy, incompetent police inspector, the bodies keep piling up and the promotions come faster and faster. At last, Martin manages to sit in the managing director’s chair. But he has barely secured his victory when a handsome young stranger arrives, intent on advancing his own career.