| Alan Bates | ... | H.J. Heidler | |
| Maggie Smith | ... | Lois Heidler | |
| Isabelle Adjani | ... | Marya 'Mado' Zelli | |
| Anthony Higgins | ... | Stephan Zelli | |
| Pierre Clémenti | ... | Théo the Pornographer | |
| Suzanne Flon | ... | Mme. Hautchamp | |
| Daniel Mesguich | ... | Pierre Schlamovitz | |
| Sheila Gish | ... | Anna | |
| Armelia McQueen | ... | Night Club Singer | |
| Wiley Wood | ... | Cairn | |
| Virginie Thévenet | ... | Madmoiselle Chardin | |
| Daniel Chatto | ... | Guy | |
| Bernice Stegers | ... | Miss Nicholson | |
| Paulita Sedgwick | ... | Esther | |
| Sébastien Floche | ... | Edouard Hautchamp | |
| Isabelle Canto da Maya | ... | Cri-Cri (as Isabelle Canto Da Maya) | |
| François Viaur | ... | Lefranc | |
| Dino Zanghi | ... | Prison Guard | |
| Michel Such | ... | Prison Guard | |
| Jean-Pierre Dravel | ... | Prison Guard | |
| Annie Noël | ... | Maid | |
| Maurice Ribot | ... | Pianist | |
| Pierre Julien | ... | Impresario | |
| Humbert Balsan | ... | Impresario's Friend | |
| Serge Marquand | ... | Night Club Owner | |
| Muriel Montossé | ... | Marjorie | |
| Caroline Loeb | ... | Nun | |
| Jeffrey Kime | ... | James | |
| Shirley Allan | ... | Adriana | |
| Anne-Marie Brissonière | ... | Les Oiseaux | |
| Marie-France De Bourges | ... | Les Oiseaux | |
| Brigitte Hermetz | ... | Les Oiseaux | |
| Josine Comellas | ... | Café Patronne | |
| Romain Brémond | ... | Youth | |
| Arlette Spetelbroot | ... | Drowned Girl | |
| Monique Mauclair | ... | Hotel Concierge | |
| rest of cast listed alphabetically: | |||
| Bonnafet Tarbouriech | ... | Prison Guard (uncredited) | |
Directed by | |||
| James Ivory | |||
Writing credits | ||
| Jean Rhys | (novel) | |
| Ruth Prawer Jhabvala | (screenplay) | |
| Michel Maingois | (French dialogue) | |
| James Ivory | (screenplay) uncredited | |
Produced by | |||
| Humbert Balsan | .... | associate producer | |
| Connie Kaiserman | .... | associate producer | |
| Jean-Pierre Mahot | .... | producer (as Jean-Pierre Mahot de la Querantonnais) | |
| Ismail Merchant | .... | producer | |
Original Music by | |||
| Richard Robbins | |||
Cinematography by | |||
| Pierre Lhomme | |||
Film Editing by | |||
| Humphrey Dixon | |||
Production Design by | |||
| Jean-Jacques Caziot | |||
Costume Design by | |||
| Judy Moorcroft | |||
Makeup Department | |||
| Jean-Pierre Berroyer | .... | hair stylist | |
| Danielle Jacquillard | .... | assistant hair stylist | |
| Ken Lintott | .... | makeup artist (as Kenneth Lintott) | |
| Tommie Manderson | .... | makeup artist (as Tommy Manderson) | |
| Marie-Madeleine Paris | .... | assistant makeup artist | |
| Christiane Sauvage | .... | assistant makeup artist (as Christine Sauvage) | |
Production Management | |||
| Alain Depardieu | .... | unit manager | |
| Jean-Marc Deschamps | .... | assistant unit manager | |
| Jean de Trégomain | .... | assistant unit manager | |
| Fabien Dufour | .... | assistant unit manager | |
Second Unit Director or Assistant Director | |||
| Hugues de Laugardière | .... | assistant director | |
Art Department | |||
| Robert Christidès | .... | set dresser | |
| Jean-Michel Hugon | .... | assistant art director | |
| Alain Laude | .... | prop man | |
Sound Department | |||
| Bernard Bats | .... | sound | |
| Alan Coddington | .... | sound assistant | |
| Michel Kharat | .... | boom operator | |
| Richard King | .... | sound re-recordist | |
| David Renton | .... | sound editor | |
Camera and Electrical Department | |||
| Pierre Abraham | .... | gaffer | |
| Jacques Barbazange | .... | grip | |
| Philippe Brun | .... | camera operator | |
| Alain Dreze | .... | grip | |
| Eric Dumage | .... | focus puller | |
| Michel Gonckel | .... | electrician | |
| Jean-Yves Le Poulain | .... | assistant camera (as Jean-Yves De Poulain) | |
| Gilles Lienard | .... | electrician | |
| Alain Masseron | .... | crane operator: Louma crane | |
| Juan Quirno | .... | still photographer | |
| André Thiéry | .... | key grip | |
Casting Department | |||
| Serge Marquand | .... | extras casting | |
Costume and Wardrobe Department | |||
| Keith Morton | .... | wardrobe assistant | |
| Renée Renard | .... | wardrobe assistant | |
Editorial Department | |||
| Mark Potter Jr. | .... | first assistant editor | |
Music Department | |||
| Al Aarons | .... | musician: trumpet | |
| Rudy Collins | .... | musician: drums | |
| Vic Flick | .... | conductor | |
| Vic Flick | .... | music arranger | |
| Luther Henderson | .... | music arranger: song | |
| Allen Jackson | .... | musician: bass | |
| Mischa Levitsky | .... | composer: theme music | |
| J. Leonard Oxley | .... | conductor | |
| J. Leonard Oxley | .... | musician: piano | |
| Benny Powell | .... | musician: trombone | |
| John Richards | .... | music recordist | |
| Jerome Richardson | .... | musician: tenor sax and clarinet | |
| Marshall Royal | .... | musician: alto sax and clarinet | |
Other crew | |||
| Elizabeth Aldrich | .... | choreographer | |
| Peter Ansin | .... | assistant to producers | |
| Angelique Armand-Delille | .... | picture assistant | |
| Jane Buck | .... | script girl | |
| Marta Carliski | .... | press | |
| Daniel Champagnon | .... | production accountant | |
| Maurice Defait | .... | groupman | |
| Jean De Gramont | .... | portraits | |
| Brigitte Faure | .... | production accountant | |
| Jacques Fontanier | .... | assistant to director (as Jacques Fontannier) | |
| François Marcepoil | .... | portraits | |
| Serge Meynard | .... | assistant to director | |
| Hubert Niogret | .... | production controller | |
| Fiona O'Connor | .... | dialogue coach | |
| Jennifer Patrick | .... | dialogue coach | |
| Jacques Quinternet | .... | location scout | |
| Sylvie Richez | .... | production secretary | |
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| The Dreamers | Clean | Metroland | Total Eclipse | The Man Who Cried |
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| Full cast and crew | Company credits | External reviews |
| IMDb Drama section | IMDb UK section | Add this title to MyMovies |
Abandoned in Paris with no work permit and no savings, when her art-dealing (illegal) Polish husband is sent to prison, Marya Zelli (Isabelle Adjani) accepts the hospitality of the Heidlers, Lois and H.J.(as Lois invariably calls him) which, probably inevitably, involves her providing bed service to H.J. The video box describes the Heidlers as a "freethinking British couple" - if you can accept a couple, with such limited self-awareness and inability to talk through their problems, as freethinkers.
The film is based on the novel by Jean Rhys, based on her own experiences with Ford Madox Ford who presumably had more going for him than H.J., or else he wouldn't be in all those books on the literature of the twenties. Apparently Ford helped Rhys with her novel, and after he tired of her body got her a ghost-writing job on the Riviera. Rhys' husband was out of prison and had abandoned her before she moved in with the Fords. Presumably her major motivation was her devotion to her writing. Marya Zelli, in the film is not a writer, and she stays in Paris because her husband is still in prison. She says more than once to Lois that if given 100 Fr she would disappear (back to England where she could legally work?) but she gets 250 Fr just before moving in with the Heidlers when she sells almost everything she has to the hotel concierge.
Thus while the film is of the desperation of no choice, Marya has in fact fewer options than the real-life Rhys, and the film ending where Marya is thrown on the mercy of her husband's acquaintance from prison, is very bleak, unlike Rhys' fate of being ejected to a writing job.