Le scandale (1967)

User Rating:

5.8/10   

Director:

Claude Chabrol

Writers:

William Benjamin (story)
Claude Brulé (writer) ...

Release Date:

31 March 1967 (France)

Genre:

Crime | Drama | Thriller

Tagline:

Psycho Puppet or Cold-Blooded Killer?

Plot:

A champagne tycoon's (Furneaux) partner (Ronet) suspects his partner's gigolo husband (Perkins) of murders he's been framed for. |

Plot Keywords:

Murder | Champagne | Scam | French Noir | Beautiful Woman

Awards:

1 win

Cast

Anthony Perkins	...	Christopher
Maurice Ronet	...	Paul
Yvonne Furneaux	...	Christine
Stéphane Audran	...	Jacqueline
Annie Vidal	...	Blonde
Henry Jones	...	Mr. Clarke
Catherine Sola	...	Denise
George Skaff	...	Mr. Pfeiffer
Christa Lang	...	Paula
Marie-Ange Aniès	...	Michele
Suzanne Lloyd	...	Evelyn
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Dominique Zardi

Also Known As:

The Champagne Murders (USA)

Runtime:

105 min

Country:

France

Language:

French

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Finland:K-16 | Sweden:15 | Argentina:16

Filming Locations:

Rosny Castle, Yvelines, France

Company:

Universal Pictures France (UPF)

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Kill Bill: Vol. 1 (2003)

Scandal indeed!

CONTAINS A BIG SPOILER Chabrol's transitional period was coming to an end.His

golden era was about to begin,and would culminate two years later with "le boucher".But the transitional period is still here in 1967.

"Le scandale" is nothing short of rubbish.The first hour is meandering and dragging on and on and on:you're going to tell me it's Claude Chabrol 's usual disgust for the bourgeoisie.It would work the following year in "la femme infidele" when Chabrol began with a fly on the wall account of the daily life of those wealthy people.It does not here .Anthony Perkins and Maurice Ronet are wasted and Yvonne Furneaux is undistinguished.Stephane Audran is here too and with her ,comes my big spoiler :so stop reading now if you have not seen the flick (but haven't you got a better way of spending your time anyway?).Anyone who knows Chabrol's works has seen Audran in a lot of films;and you realize that Jacqueline is a Stephane Audran made look ugly ,and the German hostess is the real sexy Audran.When the movie was made,Audran was hardly known in France and the audience could be fooled.No longer.

Chabrol ,in the second part,tried to create suspense and fear ,by suggesting Ronet was going nuts.But it's too late and the ending recalls some of those Joan Crawford extravaganzas ,the likes of "straight jacket" except that you had a good laugh in Castle's movie .Not in Chabrol's dud.

Gastronomist Chabrol fills his quota of good food.Here they treat themselves to some delicious kidneys (not hot enough,one of the guests complains.)