Character Relationship Map: Hardboiled Egg Time

Characters

• Raoul Grandvivier (played by Fernand Gravey) — protagonist

  A 50-year-old painter and Lucie's father, Raoul has been rescued from the Seine after a suicide attempt. Louis pays for his unsold canvases while pretending to sell them, allowing Raoul to regain his...

• Le maître nageur (played by Pierre Mondy) — supporting

  The swimming-pool lifeguard is in love with Lucie, who works there as a cashier. Upset when she resigns after Louis's money frees her from supporting her father, he tries to turn her against Louis by...

• Jules Grandvivier (played by Jacques Dufilho) — supporting

  Jules is Raoul's brother and owns the fish shop where Raoul holds a private viewing of his paintings. His shop provides the setting for Louis's employer, Grillot, to pose as the Dutch art buyer and pu...

• Mr Grillot, le garagiste (played by Julien Carette) — supporting

  Grillot is Louis's employer at the garage. At Louis's request, he attends Raoul's private viewing posing as a Dutch buyer and purchases two paintings, but the banknotes he gives Raoul are counterfeit....

• Louis Stainval, laveur de voitures, gagnant à la Loterie (played by Darry Cowl) — supporting

  Louis is a car washer at the Grillot garage who has just won ten million francs in the lottery. He drives Raoul home after the painter is rescued from the Seine, falls in love with Raoul's daughter Lu...

• Lucie Grandvivier, la fille de Raoul (played by Béatrice Altariba) — supporting

  Lucie is Raoul's daughter and a cashier at a municipal swimming pool. She falls in love with Louis, then resigns when his support means she no longer has to provide for her father. After the lifeguard...

• L'expert en tableaux (played by Daniel Emilfork) — supporting
• La caissière de la brasserie (played by Denise Carvenne) — supporting
• L'expert en billet (played by Max Montavon) — supporting
• Armande Grillot, la femme du garagiste (played by Suzanne Dehelly) — supporting

  Armande is Grillot's wife. The plot identifies her as part of the Grillot couple who partner with Louis to add a large underground parking lot to the family garage. The summary does not specify her in...

• Martine Grandvivier, la femme du poissonnier (played by Gaby Basset) — supporting
• Le livreur de poissons (played by Christian Brocard) — minor
• Le commissaire de police (played by Bernard Musson) — minor
• L'homme qui repêche Raoul de l'eau (played by Émile Genevois) — minor
• Le gardien de prison (played by Marcel Loche) — minor
• Le client de l'avenue Kleber (played by Gaston Orbal) — minor
• Le vendeur d'oreiller sur le quai de la gare (played by Jack Ary) — minor
• Le pêcheur à la ligne (played by Jacques Marin) — minor
• La tante de Raoul (played by Julienne Paroli) — minor
• Le serveur de la brasserie (played by Hubert de Lapparent) — minor

Story Analysis

A lottery winner sustains a failed painter's illusion of success through increasingly risky financial deceptions.

Plot Progression

1. Fortune Meets Despair — Louis wins ten million francs and encounters Raoul Grandvivier after rescuing him from the Seine. His immediate attraction to Raoul's daughter inspires a deceptive plan involving paintings.
2. The Imaginary Art Market — Louis falsely claims to sell Raoul's paintings and secretly pays for them himself. The money restores Raoul's furniture and creates an appearance of artistic success.
3. Suspicion And Exposure — Lucie's resignation provokes the lifeguard's revenge. His claims about the paintings and the money lead Lucie to search Louis's room and involve the police.
4. The Last False Sale — A final private viewing produces another payment for Raoul's canvases. Raoul uses the money to prepare for a journey to Tahiti.
5. Arrest And Release — Raoul is arrested when the latest banknotes prove counterfeit, and Louis and the garage employer are detained as well. Genuine stolen banknotes are found, leading to their release and a practical new...