Quai des Orfèvres (1947)

Jenny Lamour wants to succeed in music hall. Her husband and accompanist is Maurice Martineau, a nice but jealous guy. When he knew Jenny is making eyes at Brignon, an old businessman, in ... See full summary »

Director:

Henri-Georges Clouzot

Writers:

Stanislas-André Steeman (novel), Henri-Georges Clouzot (dialogue),

Stars:

Louis Jouvet, Simone Renant, Bernard Blier

2 wins.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Louis Jouvet	...	L'inspecteur adjoint Antoine
Simone Renant	...	Dora Monier
Bernard Blier	...	Maurice Martineau
Suzy Delair	...	Marguerite Chauffournier Martineau, aka Jenny Lamour
Pierre Larquey	...	Emile Lafour, un chauffeur de taxi
Jeanne Fusier-Gir	...	Pâquerette, la dame du vestiaire
Claudine Dupuis	...	Manon
Charles Dullin	...	Georges Brignon
Henri Arius	...	Léopardi, l' éditeur de musique (as Arius)
Charles Blavette	...	Le gendarme Poitevin (as Blavette)
René Blancard	...	Le commissaire principal de la P.J. (as R. Blancard)
Robert Dalban	...	Paulo, un truand (as R. Dalban)
Jean Daurand	...	L'inspecteur Picard (as J. Daurand)
Jean Dunot	...	Nitram - un chanteur comique (as J. Dunot)
Jacques Grétillat	...	Auguste (as J. Grétillat)

Storyline

Jenny Lamour wants to succeed in music hall. Her husband and accompanist is Maurice Martineau, a nice but jealous guy. When he knew Jenny is making eyes at Brignon, an old businessman, in order to get some engagements, he looses his temper and threatens Brignon with death. But Jenny went anyway to a rendez-vous at the old man's, who is murdered the same evening. The criminal investigations are lead by Inspector Antoine...

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Plot Keywords:

investigation | businessman | music hall | dance hall | paris france | 

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Genres:

Crime | Drama | Music

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Details

Official Sites:

distributor's webpage

Country:

France

Language:

French

Release Date:

5 March 1948 (USA)

Also Known As:

Quay of the Goldsmiths

Filming Locations:

Paris, France

Box Office

Opening Weekend:

$13,139 (USA) (1 November 2002)

Gross:

$152,961 (USA) (1 August 2003)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Majestic Films

Technical Specs

Runtime:

106 min 97 min (censored)

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Variable Density)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Clouzot wrote almost two-thirds of the film only having read the novel years before, recalling it from memory, since it was out of print by the time he started the screenplay. When Stanislas-André Steeman saw the film, he was furious about the differences between the novel and the film.

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Goofs

When Antoine is repeating Maurice's deposition to the typist, he says that the confrontation between Maurice and Brignon at the restaurant took place on Wednesday, December 2, 1946. In 1946, December 2 fell on a Monday.

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Connections

Edited into Histoire(s) du cinéma: La monnaie de l'absolu (1998)

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Soundtracks

"Avec son tralala, son petit tralala, elle faisait tourner toutes les têtes"
Music by Francis Lopez
Lyrics by André Hornez
Sung by Jenny Lamour (Suzy Delair)

User Reviews

Another winner from Clouzot

Quai des Orfevres takes too long getting going, with Clouzot so enamored of his back-stage milieu that he is almost in danger of forgetting the story. However, once it does, it's Clouzot at his best. Bertrand Blier (father of Bertrand Blier and co-star of his Buffet Froid) is the worldworn pianist who married beneath himself and who plans to kill the seedy studio mogul with designs on his wife only to find that someone has beaten him to it. Not only that, but his carefully planned but clumsily executed alibi falls to pieces, not least when a thief steals his car at the murder scene…

The film really kicks into life with the arrival of Luis Jouvet's police inspector, a rather wonderful creation half Alistair Sim in Green for Danger and half world-weary Maigret with better dialog. In a neat running gag, his investigation is constantly conducted at the top of his voice against chaos and noise, whether it be the noisy typewriters of the police station or a loud rehearsal. The police station itself is a wonderfully realistic creation, a wealth of chaotic and telling small details that makes Steve Bocchco's once revolutionary 80's US cop shows look like antiquated museum pieces by comparison.

If Suzy Delair is a rather unconvincing femme fatale, the supporting cast more than compensate, with the beautiful Simone Renant a standout as the lesbian photographer in love with her from afar and constantly mistaken for Blier's lover by Delair and other interested parties (only Jouvet, similarly unlucky with women, understands and genuinely sympathises). With great black and white photography by Armand Thirard, this is a terrific little thriller with a nice twist ending and a lovely scene with a cab driver reluctantly identifying Renant in a police station. (Trivia note: Pierre Larquey, who played the playfully philosophical Dr Vorzet in Le Corbeau, turns up in smaller roles as a cab-driver in both Quai and Les Espions.)

The Criterion DVD is quite superb - great picture quality plus an illuminating extract from a French TV show featuring interviews with Clouzot, Blier and Renant.