La Châtelaine du Liban (1956)
Directed by Richard Pottier

Action / Drama / Thriller
aka: Desert Detour

Film Review

Abstract picture representing La Chatelaine du Liban (1956)
In the twilight of his fairly mixed and mostly undistinguished filmmaking career, Richard Pottier routinely trotted out bland crowdpleasers without any detectable sign of skill or enthusiasm, and it's incredible he was still making films as late as the mid-1960s given that his best years were in the mid-1940s and he scarcely made a film worth watching after his 1950 Fernandel offering Meurtres (1950).  Pottier was still able to attract an audience in the early to mid 1950s, however, which is presumably why some unsuspecting producers allowed him to helm La Châtelaine du Liban, an expensive Franco-Italian production adapted from the 1924 novel of the same title by Pierre Benoit.  They should have known better.  This is a film that has 'monumental flop' written all over it - in bright red capitals.

Pottier was never the most inspired or imaginative of filmmakers but here he excels himself and turns in almost two hours of mind numbing tedium that is an endurance test to sit through without falling asleep.  Despite its charismatic leads - a young Omar Sharif and future Eurovision winner Jean-Claude Pascal - the film is almost completely bereft of life and drags itself along more slowly than a one-legged hundred-year-old tortoise with severe asthma.  The film was photographed in colour but manages to be more drab and colourless than any other film that Pottier made - in fact it is probably the most unbearably stilted and uninteresting French film of the decade.   La Châtelaine du Liban has absolutely no redeeming features - it merely shows the depths of mediocrity that its director was capable of descending to, although you only have to watch his subsequent films Le Chanteur de Mexico and Sérénade au Texas - which are marginally less painful to watch - to see the truth of this.
© James Travers 2017
The above content is owned by filmsdefrance.com and must not be copied.

Film Synopsis

In Lebanon, Hennequin, the managing director of a French petroleum company, has just acquired the mining concessions in a remote region of the country from the Countess Athelstane Orloff.  Without delay, he sends two of his engineers, Jean Domèvre and Mokhrir, to undertake a survey of the region, but the exploration proves to be fruitless.  Then, by chance, Mokhrir discovers some uranium deposits, but before Jean can pinpoint their location Mokhrir suddenly goes missing.  Fearing that his colleague may have been abducted, Jean calls on the Countess Orloff to enlist her help in finding Mokhrir, but arrives just as she is negotiating a deal with a rival of Hennequin, an Englishman named Hobson.  Appearing to succumb to Jean's charms, the Countess sets out with him to look for the missing engineer...
© James Travers
The above content is owned by filmsdefrance.com and must not be copied.

Similar Films

Here are some other films you may enjoy watching:

Film Credits

  • Director: Richard Pottier
  • Script: Maurice Aubergé, Pierre Benoît (novel)
  • Photo: Lucien Joulin
  • Music: Paul Misraki
  • Cast: Jean-Claude Pascal (Jean Domèvre), Gianna Maria Canale (Comtesse Athelstane Orloff), Jean Servais (Maj. Charles Hobson), Luciana Paluzzi (Michèle Hennequin), Guido Celano (M. Hennequin), Robert Dalban (Malek), Jess Hahn (Le valet), Guy Henry (Le géant), Jean Lefebvre (La Pie), Aïché Nana (La danseuse), Omar Sharif (Mokrir), Juliette Gréco (Maroussia), Henri Debain (Un invité), Germaine Delbat (La secrétaire), Hennery (L'armateur), Pierre Moncorbier (Le radio), Moustache (Hassan - le patron de la boîte de nuit), René Lefevre-Bel
  • Country: France / Italy
  • Language: French
  • Support: Color (Eastmancolor)
  • Runtime: 105 min
  • Aka: Desert Detour ; The Lebanese Lady ; The Lebanese Mission

The very best of French film comedy
sb-img-7
Thanks to comedy giants such as Louis de Funès, Fernandel, Bourvil and Pierre Richard, French cinema abounds with comedy classics of the first rank.
The brighter side of Franz Kafka
sb-img-1
In his letters to his friends and family, Franz Kafka gives us a rich self-portrait that is surprisingly upbeat, nor the angst-ridden soul we might expect.
The silent era of French cinema
sb-img-13
Before the advent of sound France was a world leader in cinema. Find out more about this overlooked era.
The best films of Ingmar Bergman
sb-img-16
The meaning of life, the trauma of existence and the nature of faith - welcome to the stark and enlightening world of the world's greatest filmmaker.
The best French war films ever made
sb-img-6
For a nation that was badly scarred by both World Wars, is it so surprising that some of the most profound and poignant war films were made in France?
 

Other things to look at


Copyright © filmsdefrance.com 1998-2024
All rights reserved



All content on this page is protected by copyright