Une si jolie petite plage (1949)

Director:

Yves Allégret

Writer:

Jacques Sigurd (screenplay)

Release Date:

19 January 1949 (France)

Genre:

Drama

Plot Keywords:

French Noir

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

Also Known As:

Riptide
Such a Pretty Little Beach
Zo'n aardig badplaatsje (Netherlands)

Runtime:

91 min | France:91 min (movie version)

Country:

France | Netherlands

Language:

French

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono | Mono (Western Electric Recording)

Certification:

Sweden:15

Filming Locations:

Barneville-Carteret, Manche, France

Company:

Darbor Films

Noir?...yes, but

The text we read at the beginning indicates the direction of the film; we are asked to sympathize with and not to condemn the orphans and abandoned children brought up in state-run facilities. We are told that these children often grew up to become the "elite" of society. The Gabin character in Carne's Le jour se leve also grew up on the "assistance publique," but he is a fighter for justice, unlike the passive, tormented Pierre. Yves Allegret has filmed Gerard Philipe as a sort of Christ-figure walking through the muddy streets of this third-rate resort town. There is a scene with Madeleine Robinson cuddling Philipe that is very much like the Pieta.

Jean Servais as the slimy Fred has some effective scenes; he reminds us of Jules Berry driving Gabin to murder in Le jour. If the script had focussed more on the conflict between Pierre, the killer of the club singer and Fred, the dead woman's old boyfriend, instead of devoting reams of script pages to the social and political aspects of homeless children (no matter how moving their plight may be) the noir tradition would have been much better served.

I'll finish by praising the actors: Servais is great, Jane Marken as the proprietress of the hotel is a model of petit-bourgeois intolerance, Carette's salesman is boring and right. Only Gerard Philipe fails to give a rounded performance because the script won't let him.