Les mystères de Paris (1962)

Director:

André Hunebelle

Writers:

Diego Fabbri (writer)
Pierre Foucaud (writer)

Release Date:

4 October 1962 (France)

Genre:

Action | Adventure

Plot:

The Marquis Rodolphe de Sombrueil accidentally runs over a working man with his carriage and helps his widow -- unjustly accused of robbery -- to find her missing daughter. |

Plot Keywords:

Murder | Kidnapping | Paris France | Based On Novel

Cast

Jean Marais	...	Rodolphe de Sombreuil
Dany Robin	...	Irène
Jill Haworth	...	Fleur de Marie
Raymond Pellegrin	...	Baron de Lansignac
Pierre Mondy	...	Le Chourineur
Alain Dekok	...	Fanfan (as Alain Dekock)
Georges Chamarat	...	Jérôme
Madeleine Barbulée	...	Mme Godin
Renée Gardès	...	La Chouette
Guy Delorme	...	Un policier
Catherine Brieux
Paul Cambo	...	Le préfet
Paulette Dubost	...	Mme Pipelet
Florence Blot	...	La nouvelle locataire
Alain Bouvette	...	Oscar

Also Known As:

Devil of Paris (USA) (TV title)
I misteri di Parigi (Italy)
The Mysteries of Paris

Runtime:

110 min | Brazil:90 min

Country:

France | Italy

Language:

French

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Brazil:14 | Finland:K-16 | Portugal:M/12

Company:

Da.Ma. Cinematografica

Movie Connections:

Version of Secrets of Paris (1922)

The swashbuckler seam was worked out.

"Les mystères de Paris" was one of the most famous melodramatic popular novels in the 19th century:completely implausible,it nevertheless displays a lot of qualities:its depiction of the lowest depths of the society was sometimes impressive;a sinister-looking gallery of characters unforgettable:Monsieur Pipelet,La Chouette,Le Maître d'école,Le Chourineur...In its own way,it paved a reliable way for Hugo's "les misérables".

Keeping from this Eugène Sue nothing but the proper nouns-and adding two lead characters(Raymond Pellegrin's baron and Dany Robin's Irene that do not even belong to the novel)-André Hunebelle 's treatment is not faithful to the original story and offers a muddled screenplay ,even more far-fetched than Sue's mammoth work (more than 1,000 pages).

In France,it was the end of the swashbuckler era,and Jean Marais was about to ditch the genre for the broader horizons of the spy thriller .Bur here,he's still the hero,fighting for a maiden orphan -played by Jill Haworth,whom Hunebelle found in "Exodus"'s cast-.One must indicate that Marais does the stunts himself,as in all his other movies,and here he delivers the goods!

Word to the wise:try,if you can, to see Jacques de Baroncelli's version (1943)which 's got a stellar cast.It's very hard to find,but entertaining.