Quai des Orfèvres

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Quai des orfevres
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Not to be confused with 36 Quai des Orfèvres (film).
For the division of the Police judiciaire in
Direction Régionale de Police Judiciaire de Paris
.

Quai des Orfèvres
Directed byHenri-Georges Clouzot
Screenplay byHenri-Georges Clouzot
Jean Ferry
Based onLégitime défense
1942 book
by Stanislas-André Steeman
Produced byRoger de Venloo
StarringLouis Jouvet
Suzy Delair
Bernard Blier
Simone Renant
CinematographyArmand Thirard
Edited byCharles Bretoneiche
Music byFrancis Lopez
Distributed byCoronis
Release date
3 October 1947 (1947-10-03TFrance)
Running time
106 minutes
CountryFrance
LanguageFrench

Quai des Orfèvres (French:

Stanislas-Andre Steeman. Directed by Henri-Georges Clouzot the film stars Suzy Delair as Jenny Lamour, Bernard Blier as Maurice Martineau, Louis Jouvet as Inspector Antoine and Simone Renant
as Dora.

The film was Clouzot's third directorial effort, and the first after the controversy of

Le corbeau. Without having the novel on hand, Clouzot and Jean Ferry based the film on memory and deviated significantly from the original story.[1]
The film was released in France and was popular with both audiences and critics. On the film's re-release in the United States in 2002, it continued to receive praise from critics as one of the director's best films.

Plot

Paris, December 1946. Jenny Lamour (Delair) wants to succeed in the theatre. Her husband and accompanist is Maurice Martineau (Blier), a mild-mannered but jealous man. When he finds out that Jenny has been making eyes at Brignon, a lecherous old businessman, in order to further her career, he loses his temper and threatens Brignon with death. Despite this, Jenny goes to a secret rendezvous at Brignon's apartment. He is murdered the same evening. The criminal investigations are led by Inspector Antoine (Jouvet).

Production

Quai des Orfèvres was directed by

L'Assassin habite au 21 (1942). Eliacheff agreed and shortly after sold the rights to another producer, Roger de Venloo.[4]

When trying to find a copy of Légitime défense to re-read, Clouzot found that it was out of print. Clouzot wrote a letter to Steeman to obtain a copy and began to adapt the story from memory with writer Jean Ferry. By the time a copy of the book arrived, Clouzot and Ferry had already written the script which deviated greatly from Steeman's novel. The changes in the script include the identity of the real murderer, the settings of the action, and the introduction of the lesbian photographer character Dora Monier.[4][5]

Quai des Orfèvres was also a comeback film for director-actor Louis Jouvet with whom Clouzot had become good friends before World War II. Jouvet accepted the part of Inspector Antoine on the condition that a flexible shooting schedule would be allowed and that Clouzot would cast some of Jouvet's troupe members in the film.[4] Clouzot agreed and cast Leo Lapara as one of Antoine's colleagues and Fernand René as the music hall director.[4] Clouzot cast Charles Dullin as Brignon, the murder victim. It would be the last film appearance for Dullin, who died in 1949. The main female lead was written for Suzy Delair who was Clouzot's romantic partner at the time of filming. The film went into production on 3 February 1947 and finished filming on 10 May.[4]

Cast

Release and reception

Quai des Orfèvres was released on 3 October 1947 in Paris.[8] In 1947, it was the fourth most popular film in France, drawing 5.5 million spectators.[9] The film has had several theatrical revivals in France since its original release.[4] The film was released in New York City in March 1948 under the title Jenny Lamour.[4][10] Quai des orfèvres was re-released for a limited run within America on 25 October 2002.[11][12]

Critical reception

The film received positive reception from critics on its initial release in France. Pierre Chartier of France-Libre wrote that the film was "a watershed in the history of the French crime film."

Edgar Award for Best Foreign film.[16]

Modern reception of the film has also been positive. French critics have continued to praise the film since its release. In 1964

average score of 89, based on 10 reviews.[12]

Home media

Quai des Orfèvres was released in North America on DVD by

Optimum Releasing.[20] The Criterion DVD is now out of print.[21] Kino Lorber has released a 4K restoration of the film with supplements on Blu-ray and DVD.[22]

References

  1. ^
    Criterion Collection. Retrieved 20 October 2011. Quai des Orfèvres is nominally a policier—a crime story, less a mystery than a police procedural; its title, referring to the Parisian equivalent of Scotland Yard, announces it....Clouzot himself was not especially interested in the whodunit
    aspect, as can be seen from the fact that when he couldn't turn up a copy of the source novel by the prolific Belgian pulp writer Stanislas-André Steeman, he adapted it from memory, leaving only faint traces of the original story.
  2. ^ Le Corbeau (Back cover). Henri-Georges Clouzot. New York City, United States: The Criterion Collection. 2004 [1942]. 227.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  3. ISBN 0-7800-2786-8
    . Retrieved 16 August 2009.
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Borger, Lenny (2002). "Production Notes on the "Quai" of Inspector Clouzot". Film Forum. Archived from the original on 27 September 2011. Retrieved 10 March 2010.
  5. ^ Mayne 2007, p.88
  6. ^ Simiac, Pierre (November 1980). "Quai des Orfèvres". Polar, le Magazine du Policier (in French). 1 (15): 63 – via Internet Archive.
  7. LCCN 95010539
    . Retrieved 15 August 2023.
  8. ^ Borger, Lenny (2002). "Production Credits". Film Forum. Archived from the original on 10 July 2007. Retrieved 10 March 2010.
  9. ^ Lloyd 2007, p. 30
  10. ^ a b Crowther, Bosley (8 March 1948). "'Jenny Lamour,' French Crime Film, Stars Louis Jouvet, Playing the Detective" (requires subscription). The New York Times: 17. Retrieved 10 February 2010.
  11. ^ "About Rialto". Rialto Pictures. Archived from the original on 9 January 2011. Retrieved 11 March 2010.
  12. ^ a b "Quai des Orfèvres (re-release): Reviews". Metacritic. CNET Networks, Inc. Retrieved 11 March 2010.
  13. ^ Crisp, 1997. p 427
  14. ^ Coe, Richard L. (4 May 1948). "Realism Etches French Whodunit". The Washington Post. p. 16. Archived from the original (requires subscription) on 4 June 2011. Retrieved 10 February 2010.
  15. ^ "Quai des Orfevres Review". Variety. 1947. Retrieved 4 August 2010.
  16. ^ "The Edgar Awards Database (search "Clouzot")". TheEdgars.com. Archived from the original on 27 September 2018. Retrieved 11 March 2010.
  17. ^ Lloyd 2007, p. 63
  18. ^ "Quai des Orfèvres". Rotten Tomatoes. Fandango Media. Retrieved 30 June 2019.
  19. ^ Eder, Bruce. "Quai des Orfevres [Criterion Collection]: Overview". Allmovie. Archived from the original on 7 July 2012. Retrieved 11 March 2010.
  20. ^ "Optimum Releasing: Quai des Orfevres". Allmovie. Archived from the original on 7 October 2010. Retrieved 11 March 2010.
  21. ^ "Quai des Orfèvres". The Criterion Collection. Retrieved 20 April 2016.
  22. ^ "Quai des Orfèvres". Kino Lorber. Retrieved 31 January 2022.

Sources

External links
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