The raincoated gent of the title is horse-faced French comedian
Fernandel, who plays luckless jazz musician Albert Constantin. Thanks to the chicanery of a slick gangster boss, Albert finds himself up to his ears in murder and treachery. The farcical elements of the film are juxtaposed with moments of startling violence, but in the end laughter wins out. American actor
John McGiver, in France to film his supporting role in
Billy Wilder's
Love in the Afternoon, is herein cast as a pivotal character. The Man in the Raincoat (L'Homme à l'Impermeable) was not officially remade as
The Tall Blond Man with One Black Shoe (1972), though the similarities between the two films are quite pronounced. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide