Une si jolie petite plage (1949)

Director:

Yves Allégret

Writer:

Jacques Sigurd (screenplay)

Stars:

Madeleine Robinson, Gérard Philipe, Jean Servais

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Madeleine Robinson	...	Marthe
Gérard Philipe	...	Pierre
Jean Servais	...	Fred
André Valmy	...	Georges
Jane Marken	...	Madame Mahieu (as Jeanne Marken)
Paul Villé	...	Monsieur Curlier
Christian Ferry	...	Le pupille
Yves Martel	...	Arthur
Gabrielle Fontan	...	La vieille dans le car
Gabriel Gobin	...	Arthur
Mona Dol	...	Madame Curlier
Julien Carette	...	Le voyageur de commerce (as Carette)
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Robert Le Fort	...	Le commissaire

Storyline

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Plot Keywords:

french noir

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Genres:

Drama

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Details

Country:

France Netherlands

Language:

French

Release Date:

19 January 1949 (France)

Also Known As:

Riptide

Filming Locations:

Barneville-Carteret, Manche, France

Company Credits

Production Co:

Darbor Films, Compagnie Industrielle et Commerciale Cinématographique (CICC), Dutch European

Technical Specs

Runtime:

91 min 91 min (movie)

Sound Mix:

Mono Mono (Western Electric Recording)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

User Reviews

The quintessence of Gerard Philipe

His sensitive performance as Prince Myshkin in L'IDIOT (1946) had brought international attention, and his performance in THE DEVIL IN THE FLESH (1947) made him a star; with his next two films, LE CHARTREUSE DE PARME (1948) and UNE SI JOLIE PETITE PLAGE (1949), Gerard Philipe's position as the premier leading man of French cinema in the post-war period was assured.

Just as PEPE LE MOKO, QUAI DES BRUMES, LA BETE HUMAINE and LE JOUR SE LEVE had established the Jean Gabin persona in the 1930s (what Andre Bazin had termed "the tragic destiny"), so these four films established the Philipe persona, the sensitive young man overwhelmed by destiny. In UNE SI JOLIE PETITE PLAGE, the small seaside resort out-of-season, with its fog, its desolation, and its ramshackle buildings, is a perfect setting for this story of lost souls seeking connection and (possible) redemption. Madeleine Robinson, as the young woman working at the inn, is Philipe's counterpart: a sullen girl battered by circumstances who nevertheless is touched by the fragility of the young man. The fact that, on a realistic level, Gerard Philipe does not project the hardened facade of a criminal is rather the point: the point of a star persona. In this case, Philipe's projection of an intensely isolated, even alienated, psyche which defined the existential dilemma that was being defined by writers such as Sartre and Camus in the post-war epoch, was really enshrined in this movie.

Philipe would prove to be a more versatile actor than initially assumed; his humor, his athletic vigor, and his exuberance can be seen in movies like FANFAN LA TULIPE and POT-BOUILLE. But UNE SI JOLIE PETITE PLAGE shows Philipe at the apex of his portrayals of tortured youth, a prototype for such stars as Montgomery Clift and James Dean.