Film Review
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, Willems Henri 2011
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Next André Hunebelle film:
Méfiez-vous, mesdames! (1963)
Film Synopsis
Paris, 1840. The fortunes of the Marquis Rodolphe de Sombreuil, a frivolous
dandy, and Marie Godin, one of the city's malnourished poor, become inextricably
linked on the day that the former's horse-drawn carriage knocks down the
latter's father. The Marquis is not a heartless man, so thinking that
the old man has sustained only a minor injury he gives him a purse containing
some money to compensate for the accident. He then goes on his way
with his fiancée Irène, unaware that he leaves behind a man
dying from his wounds. Godin's death is more than his wife and daughter
can bear, but far worse is to follow.
Finding the Marquis's expensive purse in the widow's possession, the police
mistake the old woman for a thief and immediately arrest her. Meanwhile,
Marie gets herself into bad company whilst looking for work. Summoned
by the police to settle the matter of the stolen purse, Rodolphe is moved
by the widow's urgent appeals to go after her missing daughter and rescue
her from whatever trouble she is now in. Adopting a suitable disguise,
the Marquis is soon scouring the city for Marie and finds a useful ally in
Chourineur, a former convict who knows his way around the Parisian underworld.
Meanwhile, the object of Rodolphe's ardent quest about Paris has fallen into
the pock-marked hands of La Chouette, a vile old hag who intends employing
her as a prostitute. With her fiancé absorbed by his latest
idiotic adventure, Irène begins to feel neglected and resentful.
Seeking amusement of her own, she turns her attention to the Marquis's rival,
the Baron de Lansignac, a powerful man of business who has a habit of getting
his own way. When Marie is introduced to him, the baron decides at
once that he must have her...
© James Travers
The above content is owned by filmsdefrance.com and must not be copied.