Diaboliquement vôtre (1967)

Director:

Julien Duvivier

Writers:

Jean Bolvary (writer)
Julien Duvivier (writer)
(more)

Release Date:

22 December 1967 (France)

Genre:

Thriller | Crime

Plot:

Plot Keywords:

Beautiful Woman | Amnesia | Based On Book

Cast

Alain Delon	...	Pierre Lagrange a.k.a. Georges Campo
Senta Berger	...	Christiane
Sergio Fantoni	...	Freddie
Peter Mosbacher	...	Kim
Claude Piéplu	...	Le décorateur
Albert Augier
Renate Birgo	...	L'infirmière
Guy Stranger	...	L'Arabe
Georges Montant	...	Le brigadier
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Albert Daumergue
Marcel Gassouk

Directed by
Julien Duvivier

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Jean Bolvary		writer
Julien Duvivier		writer
Paul Gégauff		writer
Roland Girard		writer
Louis Thomas		book

Original Music by
François de Roubaix

Cinematography by
Henri Decaë

Production Management
Raymond Danon	....	production manager

Production Companies

• Comacico
• Eichberg-Film
• Igor Film
• Les Films Copernic
• Lira Films
• Pegaso Films
• Société Nouvelle de Cinématographie (SNC)
• Valoria Films

Distributors

• Columbia-Bavaria Filmgesellschaft m.b.H. (1968) (West Germany) (theatrical)
• Kinowelt Home Entertainment (2007) (Germany) (DVD)
• Video Vamp (USA) (video)

Also Known As:

Diabolically Yours
Diabolicamente tua (Italy)
Mit teuflischen Grüssen (West Germany)

Runtime:

Japan:93 min

Country:

Italy | France | West Germany

Language:

French | German

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Norway:16 | West Germany:16 (nf) | Finland:K-16 | Sweden:15

Company:

Comacico

Movie Connections:

References "Belphégor" (1965)

Farewell,Monsieur Duvivier.

The movie begins with a car crash.Soon after,Duvivier would die in a car crash too.It was the second time he 'd experimented color and

directed Alain Delon (who was part of the cast of "le devil and the ten commandments",a film made up of sketches ,Duvivier's forte.) Julien Duvivier is my all-time French favorite director .His career encompasses the silent era,the glorious thirties when he produced one masterpiece a year ,an American era in the forties.In the fifties he 's best remembered for his "Don Camillo" saga but one should not forget his films noirs extraordinaire ("Sous le ciel de Paris" and "Voici le temps des assassins").Then there was the nouvelle vague which was always putting him down.Delon reportedly said he'd suffered from their contempt.He shouldn't have bothered:he's better than any of them.And Claude Chabrol is certainly his psychic son as he is Hitchcock's or Clouzot's.

"Diaboliquement votre" is a poor swansong though.Duvivier's indomitable pessimism can be felt when he denies (and it's not the first time:almost all Duvivier works have a bitter end)the audience the de rigueur happy end ,but his magic touch is almost absent here.Delon portrays a framed man :a distant relative of George Peppard in Jack Smight's "the third day" (1966) and Tom Berenger in "shattered",his wife (Senta Berger)refuses to give herself to him after a car crash.But is she really his wife?And what about these strange voices he can hear at night?This shady doctor who calls him his friend?This Chinese servant?This kind of screenplay needs talented writers ,like Boileau-Narcejac ("Diabolique" "Vertigo" ) ,Frédéric Dard ("Toi le venin") or John Dickson Carr whose " burning court" Duvivier had transferred to the screen in 1962.Louis Thomas whose book I've not read is not in the same league.His tricks are roughly done:the tape recorder,the dog,the trap door..All the plot seems to sink into the pool of the desirable mansion.

Delon's presence,Berger's beauty and a nice cinematography make the movie watchable.But Duvivier had done so much so much better that I urge French movies buffs to see his finest works,which Orson Welles himself admired.