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Four Queens for an Ace

1966 film by Jacques Poitrenaud

Manuscripts, fine bindings, an engraving plate and preserved performance ephemera
Arts and lettersInterpretive dossier study · Crown Archives visual atlas
Record originEnglish Wikipedia
Text licenseCC BY-SA 4.0
Source revisionMay 28, 2026
Entity authorityQ2940388 ↗
Source-derived summary

Four Queens for an Ace (French: Carré de dames pour un as, Spanish: Demasiadas mujeres para Layton, Italian: Layton... bambole e karatè, also known as An Ace and Four Queens) is a 1966 French-Spanish-Italian spy film, directed by Jacques Poitrenaud and starring Roger Hanin and Sylva Koscina. It is based on a novel by Michael Loggan.

Plot

International spy Hakim Gregory escapes from prison by killing a number of guards. With his accomplices, Dolores and Jesus, he flees to Málaga, Spain and pays a doctor to alter his appearance using plastic surgery. Once the task is completed, Jesus kills the doctor. Four agents of the French Secret Service, tasked with finding Halim are killed. The organization then tells its ace of aces, Agent Dan Layton to find Hakim.

Layton arrives in Malaga, disguised as an elegant playboy and flanked blonde Petula, another French agent, posing as a wealthy heiress. Unbeknown to Layton's fiancée, tour guide Marion, is that Layton is a secret agent.

Editorial summary

The public source identifies “Four Queens for an Ace” as 1966 film by Jacques Poitrenaud. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Four, Queens and film.

Editorial reviewA productive route into publication, performance and collection histories when the underlying object or edition remains clearly identified. The current lead gives the account dated anchors—1966—that can be checked directly. The linked authority record independently contributes the date 1966-01-01. Its value is orientation rather than verdict, with Four, Queens and film providing the first useful test.
Editorial analysis

Why this record matters

A short description can identify a subject without explaining its stakes. For “Four Queens for an Ace”, the useful work is to connect “1966 film by Jacques Poitrenaud” to the records capable of establishing context and consequence.

Evidence profile

Attribution, date and provenance are strongest when supported by the original work, a catalogue record and documented transmission. The source revision retrieved here is dated May 28, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q2940388. 1 of 1 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1966.

Critical limits

Later fame can flatten the distinction between original context, subsequent adaptation and institutional collecting history. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.

How to read it

Separate the work, its editions or performances, and its later reception. Catalogue records, publication histories and object files often preserve different parts of that story.

Best used for
  • Identifying works and editions
  • Tracing reception history
  • Finding collection records
Verify next

The original object or edition, catalogue raisonné, performance record, rights file and holding institution.

Three-step research path

  1. Establish the record: confirm the title “Four Queens for an Ace”, its source revision and the description used here.
  2. Expand the search: follow Four Queens for an Ace primary sources, Four Queens for an Ace archive and Four research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
  3. Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.

Questions for further research

  1. Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Four Queens for an Ace”?
  2. How did later circulation or interpretation alter the work’s reception?
  3. Where is authorship, date or provenance documented?
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Source & attribution

This entry incorporates text from “Four Queens for an Ace” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.