Review / Analysis
Eugène Sue’s celebrated novel Les
Mystères de Paris (first published in 1842) has been
adapted many times for the cinema but the best known version is this
colourful 1962 blockbuster, starring French film icon Jean Marais in
yet another of his athletic historical roles. Well-paced, stylish
and beautifully photographed, the film was enthusiastically directed by
André Hunebelle, who had previously worked with Marais on some
very popular swashbucklers - Le Bossu (1960) and Le
Capitan (1960). With Jean Marais at the height of his
popularity, the film proved to be a huge commercial success, attracting
an audience in France of almost three million, making it one of the
biggest hits of the year.
The film’s distinguished cast includes Raymond Pellegrin as the deliciously evil villain of the piece (it is obligatory to boo and hiss every time he appears on the screen), the sensual Dany Robin as Marais’s ill-fated fiancée and the eye-catching British actress Jill Haworth in one of her earliest screen roles. Acting stalwarts Noël Roquevert and Pierre Mondy make welcome appearances, although it is often the lesser known character actors who most grab our attention, particularly Renée Gardès who is magnificently grotesque as the despicable hag Chouette.
Whilst it is by no means the most inspired or intelligent literary adaptation French cinema has given us, Les Mystères de Paris is still a massively enjoyable adventure romp that offers both a bleak insight into the harsh inequalities that existed in post-revolutionary France under the reign of Louis-Philippe and some very well choreographed action sequences. Marais seems to positively relish the dangerous situations his character manages to get himself out of, miraculously escaping from burning buildings and flooded cellars like a 19th Century Harry Houdini. Hunebelle would bring together Marais and Pellegrin a few years later in his most famous film, Fantômas (1964), with Pellgrin providing the distinctive voice for Marais’s masked arch-villain.
© James Travers 2011
Write a review for this film...
The film’s distinguished cast includes Raymond Pellegrin as the deliciously evil villain of the piece (it is obligatory to boo and hiss every time he appears on the screen), the sensual Dany Robin as Marais’s ill-fated fiancée and the eye-catching British actress Jill Haworth in one of her earliest screen roles. Acting stalwarts Noël Roquevert and Pierre Mondy make welcome appearances, although it is often the lesser known character actors who most grab our attention, particularly Renée Gardès who is magnificently grotesque as the despicable hag Chouette.
Whilst it is by no means the most inspired or intelligent literary adaptation French cinema has given us, Les Mystères de Paris is still a massively enjoyable adventure romp that offers both a bleak insight into the harsh inequalities that existed in post-revolutionary France under the reign of Louis-Philippe and some very well choreographed action sequences. Marais seems to positively relish the dangerous situations his character manages to get himself out of, miraculously escaping from burning buildings and flooded cellars like a 19th Century Harry Houdini. Hunebelle would bring together Marais and Pellegrin a few years later in his most famous film, Fantômas (1964), with Pellgrin providing the distinctive voice for Marais’s masked arch-villain.
© James Travers 2011
Write a review for this film...
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Synopsis
Paris, 1840. Whilst driving his fiancée Irène home
in his horse-drawn carriage, the Marquis Rodolphe de Sombreuil
accidentally knocks down a poor man in the street. Believing the
man is only slightly injured, Rodolphe gives him a purse containing
some money as a recompense. But the man dies not long afterwards,
leaving his wife and daughter Marie desolate. The widow is then
arrested by the police, who believe she stole Rodolphe’s
purse. When Rodolphe is called to the police station to
settle the matter, the distraught widow entreats him to go in search of
her daughter, who has recently gone missing whilst looking for
work. In fact Marie has been abducted by an old hag named La
Chouette and forced to work as a prostitute. Meanwhile,
Irène has grown tired of being neglected and becomes the
mistress of Rodolphe’s enemy, the Baron de Lansignac. The latter
is a mean businessman who has also taken an interest in Marie...
© Willems Henri (Brussels, Belgium)
© Willems Henri (Brussels, Belgium)
Credits
- Director: André Hunebelle
- Script: Diego Fabbri, Pierre Foucaud, Jean Halain, Eugène Sue (novel)
- Photo: Marcel Grignon, Jean Tournier
- Music: Jean Marion
- Cast: Jean Marais (Rodolphe de Sombreuil), Dany Robin (Irène), Jill Haworth (Fleur de Marie), Raymond Pellegrin (Baron de Lansignac), Pierre Mondy (Le Chourineur), Alain Dekok (Fanfan), Georges Chamarat (Jérôme), Madeleine Barbulée (Mme Godin), Renée Gardès (La Chouette), Guy Delorme (Un policier), Paul Cambo (Le préfet), Paulette Dubost (Mme Pipelet), Florence Blot (La nouvelle locataire), Alain Bouvette (Oscar), Charles Bouillaud (Godin), Louis Bugette (Le faux aveugle), Robert Dalban (Le patron de l’auberge des Ravageurs), Gabriel Gobin (M. Morel, le tailleur), Benoîte Labb (Louise Morel), Maria Meriko (Mme Georges), Bernard Musson (Le maître d’hôtel du restaurant ’bal masqué’), Alain Nobis (L’écrivain public), Raphaël Patorni (Le président du Cercle), Bedra Benharrats (Margot, une servante), Raoul Billerey (Amédée)
- Country: France / Italy
- Language: French
- Support: Color
- Runtime: 110 min
- Aka: Devil of Paris
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Drama / Adventure / Romance / History 










