| Mon. Nov. 16 | 2:00 AM | TCM |
| Jean Marais | ... | Orphée | |
| François Périer | ... | Heurtebise | |
| María Casares | ... | The Princess - Death | |
| Marie Déa | ... | Eurydice | |
| Henri Crémieux | ... | L'éditeur | |
| Juliette Gréco | ... | Aglaonice | |
| Roger Blin | ... | The Poet | |
| Edouard Dermithe | ... | Jacques Cégeste | |
| René Worms | ... | Judge | |
| Raymond Faure | |||
| Pierre Bertin | ... | Le commissaire | |
| Jacques Varennes | ... | Judge | |
| rest of cast listed alphabetically: | |||
| André Carnège | ... | Judge | |
| Claude Mauriac | |||
| Philippe Bordier | ... | Young Man at Café des Poètes (uncredited) | |
| Claude Borelli | ... | Une bacchante (uncredited) | |
| Jean Cocteau | ... | Narrator (voice) (uncredited) | |
| Renée Cosima | ... | Une bacchante (uncredited) | |
| Jacques Doniol-Valcroze | ... | Young Man at Café des Poètes (uncredited) | |
| René Lacourt | ... | Postman (uncredited) | |
| Julien Maffre | ... | Un agent de police (uncredited) | |
| Jean-Pierre Melville | ... | Le directeur de l'hôtel (uncredited) | |
| Jean-Pierre Mocky | ... | Le chef de bande (uncredited) | |
| Henri San Juan | ... | Young Man at Café des Poètes (uncredited) | |
| Victor Tabournot | ... | Young Man at Café des Poètes (uncredited) | |
Directed by | |||
| Jean Cocteau | |||
Writing credits(in alphabetical order) | ||
| Jean Cocteau | writer | |
Produced by | |||
| André Paulvé | .... | executive producer | |
Original Music by | |||
| Georges Auric | |||
Cinematography by | |||
| Nicolas Hayer | |||
Film Editing by | |||
| Jacqueline Sadoul | (as J. Sadoul) | ||
Production Design by | |||
| Jean d'Eaubonne | (as D'Eaubonne) | ||
Set Decoration by | |||
| Albert Volper | (as A. Volper) | ||
Costume Design by | |||
| Marcel Escoffier | |||
Makeup Department | |||
| Alexandre Marcus | .... | makeup artist (as A. Marcus) | |
Production Management | |||
| Émile Darbon | .... | production manager | |
| Jean-Marie Loutrel | .... | unit manager (as J. Loutrel) | |
Second Unit Director or Assistant Director | |||
| Claude Pinoteau | .... | assistant director (as C. Pinoteau) | |
Art Department | |||
| Alfred Marpaux | .... | assistant production designer (as Marpeaux) | |
Sound Department | |||
| Pierre-Louis Calvet | .... | sound (as Calvet) | |
Camera and Electrical Department | |||
| Roger Corbeau | .... | still photographer (as R. Corbeau) | |
| Noël Martin | .... | camera operator (as N. Martin) | |
Editorial Department | |||
| Hélène Basté | .... | assistant film editor (as H. Baste) | |
Music Department | |||
| Jacques Métehen | .... | conductor (as Jacques Météhen) | |
Other crew | |||
| Sylvette Baudrot | .... | script assistant | |
| Claude Pinoteau | .... | technical advisor | |
| Claude Vériat | .... | script supervisor (as C. Vériat) | |
Thanks | |||
| Christian Bérard | .... | film dedicated to | |
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| The Brylcreem Boys | Enchanted | The Stunt Man | Die Blechtrommel | 8½ |
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| Full cast and crew | Company credits | External reviews |
| IMDb Fantasy section | IMDb France section | Add this title to MyMovies |
This film is an updating of the Greek myth of Orpheus and Eurydice. The film updates the action to post-war France, with Orpheus (played by Jean Marais) a famous but dis-satisfied poet.
The film focuses on the themes of love and death. Most notably Orpheus falling in love with a glamorous incarnation of Death (Maria Casares).
Writer-director Jean Cocteau turns the everyday world into a magical realm. Mirrors turn to pools which are portals to other worlds, car radios pick up coded messages from Death's World. In less talented hands than Cocteau's, the delicate fantasy could have easily become ridiculous but he handles it with brilliance and the film works perfectly.
Here Cocteau creates a truly poetic film. The story is magical and entertaining and the film is filled with wonderously surreal images (particularly striking is the frequent use of filming an action performed backwards, and then reversing it which creates a very strange impression).