Summary
Jean, nicknamed Fabius the Foolhardy, is a circus acrobat whose act
involves driving a motorcycle up a near-vertical incline, the Wall of
Death. Tired of his girlfriend, Marthe, he decides to kill
her. One evening, he takes a shot at a woman who resembles Marthe
but who in fact is someone else, Lucienne. A well-known
impresario, Lucienne decides to take her revenge by persuading Jean to
undertake a death-defying stunt that has never yet been
accomplished. Lucienne’s former lover, Eric, visits Jean and
reveals how she once talked him into performing a stunt that left him
scarred for life. In spite of Eric’s warnings that Lucienne is an evil
woman who has driven another man to his death, Jean decides to go ahead
with the stunt...
© Willems Henri (Brussels, Belgium)
© Willems Henri (Brussels, Belgium)
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Useful links
- Best French films of 2011
- Best French films of the 2000s
- Best of the French New Wave
- Best of French film comedy
- The best 100 French films
- The most successful French films
- Great French filmmakers
Related links
- Other French films of the 1940s
- The best French films of the 1940s
- Other French thrillers
- The best French thrillers
- Biography and films of Bernard-Roland
To buy this film
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Credits
- Director: Bernard-Roland
- Script: François Chalais, Henri Decoin, Marcel Rivet, Charles Spaak
- Photo: Roger Hubert
- Music: Maurice Thiriet
- Cast: Maria Montez (Lucienne de Rinck), Erich von Stroheim (Eric), Arletty (Martha), Pierre Brasseur (Fabius), Marcel Dalio (Fred), Marcel Dieudonné (Prosper), Les Fratellini (Eux-même), Jules Berry (Pfeiffer), Eddy Debray (L’announceur), Julien Maffre (Un valet de piste), Jean-Pierre Mocky, Marc Natol, Marcel Rouzé
- Country: France
- Language: French
- Runtime: 100 min; B&W
- Aka: Portrait of an Assassin
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Drama / Thriller






