La vérité sur Bébé Donge (1952)

Director:

Henri Decoin

Writers:

Maurice Aubergé (writer)
Georges Simenon (novel)

Release Date:

13 February 1952 (France)

Genre:

Thriller

Plot:

Francois Donge, a wealthy manufacturer, is fighting death at hospital. He officially suffers from a food poisoning...

Plot Keywords:

Poisoning | Uxoricide | Guilt | Womanizer | Superficial

Cast

Danielle Darrieux	...	Elisabeth 'Bebe' Donge
Jean Gabin	...	François Donge
Jacques Castelot	...	Docteur Jalabert
Daniel Lecourtois	...	Georges Donge
Madeleine Lambert	...	Mame d'Onneville
Juliette Faber	...	L'infirmière
Jacqueline Porel	...	Françoise
Gaby Bruyère	...	La fille dans le taxi
Meg Lemonnier	...	La secrétaire
Alinda Kristensen	...	Madame Flament
Yvonne Claudie	...	Une joueuse de bridge
Jean-Marc Tennberg	...	Le liftier
Marcel André	...	Le juge d'instruction
Claude Génia	...	Jeanne Donge
Gabrielle Dorziat	...	Madame D'Ortemont

Also Known As:

The Truth About Bebe Donge (International: English title)
The Truth of Our Marriage (UK)

Runtime:

110 min

Country:

France

Language:

French

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

West Germany:16 | Sweden:15

Company:

Union Générale Cinématographique (UGC)

Anatomy of a murder.

Ambitious,not always successful,this Decoin film is adapted from George Simenon. It's a long flashback,mixing present and past with occasional gaps.The black and white cinematography is thoroughly mastered:Danielle Darrieux, all dressed in black(and beautiful), like a death angel, visits her dying husband with a pallid face in a white room.Another shot, before the end, shows a car disappearing in the darkest night.

Bebe Donge is a romantic woman, a "Madame Bovary",who believes in true love. She does not realize that, in the bourgeois world in which she lives in, these values are no longer in use.Her husband (Gabin) is cynical and does not even try to hide his lovers.In 1951,for the bourgeoisie,divorce was unthinkable:the wedding ceremony, with great pomp meant, for these hypocrites, that what the lord joined together, the world must not undo. So Darrieux ,who was a charming young woman, becomes a murderer. There was nothing to suggest that such a disaster might happen .

Although not as good as "non coupable" with Michel Simon,"la vérité sur Bébé Donge" is eminently watchable and will reward you as much as, say, a Godard movie.Or surely more...