A Scandal in Paris (1946)

User Rating:

6.8/10   

Director:

Douglas Sirk

Writers:

François-Eugène Vidocq (memoirs)
Ellis St. Joseph (adaptation)

Release Date:

19 July 1946 (USA)

Genre:

Adventure | Crime | Romance | Comedy

Tagline:

Every man has his price... and every woman pays it.

Plot:

The autobiography of elegant criminal, François Eugène Vidocq, from his birth in a French jail in 1775...

Plot Keywords:

Bank | Vidocq | Paris | Artist | Criminal

Cast

George Sanders	...	Eugéne François Vidocq
Signe Hasso	...	Therese De Pierremont
Carole Landis	...	Loretta de Richet
Akim Tamiroff	...	Emile Vernet
Gene Lockhart	...	Prefect of Police Richet
Alma Kruger	...	Marquise De Pierremont
Alan Napier	...	Houdon De Pierremont, Police Minister
Jo Ann Marlowe	...	Mimi De Pierremont
Vladimir Sokoloff	...	Uncle Hugo
Pedro de Cordoba	...	Priest
Leona Maricle	...	Owner of Dress Shop
Fritz Leiber	...	Painter
Skelton Knaggs	...	Cousin Pierre
Fred Nurney	...	Cousin Gabriel
Gisela Werbisek	...	Aunt Ernestine (as Gisella Werbiseck)

Also Known As:

The Story of Vidocq (USA) (working title)
Thieves' Holiday (International: English title)
Vidocq (USA) (working title)

Runtime:

100 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Mirrophonic Recording)

Certification:

USA:Passed (National Board of Review) | USA:Approved (PCA #11036) | Sweden:15

Company:

Arnold Pressburger Films

Quotes:

Priest: Within all of us is a saint as well as a dragon.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Vidocq (2001)

Soundtrack:

Flame Song

Witty Costume Comedy

A kind of anti-Les Miserables, this sophisticated period comedy inverts conventional morality, following a thief/scoundrel as he rises to become the chief of police of Paris. This makes an ideal showcase for George Sanders at his peak of suavity, which he maintains even in a blond wig while posing for a portrait of St. George [this evolves into a theme of the film: "In all of us there is a St. George and a dragon"]. Naturally, Sanders effortlessly spins aphorisms: on adultery, he murmurs, "Sometimes the chains of matrimony are so heavy they have to be carried by three".

Very much a production of displaced Europeans [Sirk, Shuftan, Eisler, Pressburger], the story celebrates a continental tolerance ["No man is a saint"]. Douglas Sirk clearly enjoys the subversive charm of the criminal mind which stays sharp by exploring all the possibilities for larceny. However, Sirk is not cruel: the provincial victims are not buffoons; they are just not sharp enough to see all the angles in each situation. He does not mock the cheerful dowager [Alma Kruger] who is eager for more adventurous company, and even the bumbling cuckold [Gene Lockhart] is ultimately touching when he disguises himself as a canary-merchant.

Like its contemporary, Renoir's DIARY OF A CHAMBERMAID, this sometimes seems like a European film trapped in Hollywood. However, while the first hour sometimes strains to be "naughty" [as in a decorous skinny-dipping scene], Sirk is able to unify the tone more successfully than Renoir. If Signe Hasso seems a bit old [at 30] as the wide-eyed ingenue, and Carole Landis struggles through her music hall number, Sirk guides both of them to satisfying moments, justifying their casting. The plot – involving a garter made of rubies, a monkey called Satan, and a Chinese carousel with a giant Pekinese to ride -- develops increasingly clever and surprising twists, to a pleasing conclusion.