Therese, the bored, unhappy and love-starved wife of a weak, flabby and petulant railway worker, becomes involved with a handsome Italian truck driver, an affair that leads to murder and blackmail. For what was to be his last notable film, Carne updated Emile Zola’s famous novel of destructive sensual passion, and set it in the bleak provincial back streets of Lyons. It is redolent with brooding atmosphere but, somehow, it is a cold film in which the leads are efficient rather than passionate, leaving the acting honours to Sylvie as Therese’s crippled, unpleasant and vigilant mother-in-law. The famous version of this tale, made in 1928 by Jacques Feyder is, alas, no longer extant. Reference: Bloomsbury Foreign Film Guide.
Credits: Producers, Robert Hakim, Raymond Hakim ; director, Marcel Carne ; writer, Charles Spaak ; photography, Roger Hubert ; music, Maurice Thiriet ; costumes, Mayo.
Cast: Simone Signoret, Raf Vallone, Sylvie, Jacques Duby.
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How to watch
Collection
In ACMI's collection
Credits
Collection metadata
ACMI Identifier
X000502
Language
French
Subject category
Foreign language films
Sound/audio
Sound
Colour
Black and White
Holdings
16mm film; Limited Access Print (Section 2)