Manèges (1950)

After having spent all his money to fullfill the smallest wish of his wife Dora, Robert is still madly in love with her. Now, she is at agony, and her mother comes. She will reveal to ... See full summary »

Director:

Yves Allégret

Stars:

Bernard Blier, Simone Signoret, Jacques Baumer

Cast

Cast overview:
Bernard Blier	...	Robert
Simone Signoret	...	Dora
Jacques Baumer	...	Louis
Mona Dol	...	L'infirmière-chef
Laure Diana	...	La cavalière du manège
Fernand Rauzéna	...	Les chefs des 'girls' (as F. Rauzena)
Jean Ozenne	...	Eric
Jean Hébey	...	L'acheteur de chevaux (as Jean Hebey)
Pierre Naugier
Alain Debrus
Gabriel Gobin	...	Émile
Max Monroy	...	(as Monroy)
Jane Marken	...	La mère de Dora
Franck Villard	...	François (as Frank Villard)

Storyline

After having spent all his money to fullfill the smallest wish of his wife Dora, Robert is still madly in love with her. Now, she is at agony, and her mother comes. She will reveal to Robert how he has been fooled. Through some flashbacks, we will see the story through Robert's or his mother-in-law's eyes. A very misogynous movie...

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Genres:

Drama

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Details

Country:

France

Language:

French

Release Date:

25 January 1950 (France)

Also Known As:

The Cheat

Company Credits

Production Co:

DisCina, Les Films Modernes (I)

Technical Specs

Runtime:

91 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Sound System)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Goofs

After her birthday party, Dora leaves the flat with her fur coat on, two seconds later she is seen putting it on as she gets down the stairs.

User Reviews

MANEGES (Yves Allegret, 1950) **1/2

Having watched Frenchman Marc Allegret's BLANCHE FURY (1948) to inaugurate a foreign-language film marathon (albeit by way of a British production and, therefore, in English!), it was logically followed by an effort from his younger brother Yves. Alas, this study of a femme fatale (played by the director's own wife at the time, Simone Signoret) proved disappointingly dreary as a whole – wasting a rather interesting noir-ish structure wherein the female protagonist goes through a 180-degree turn from victim (we first see the girl badly injured, with her devoted husband Bernard Blier then recounting preceding events) to schemer (as she asks her mother, Jane Marken, to tell Blier about their true grasping nature and how she frequently betrayed him with other more handsome men). Though, perhaps appropriately, the English title of the film is THE WANTON, the original was more subtle – if no less obviously related to some of the themes involved; MANEGES, in fact, translates to riding-school and, indeed, Blier is the proprietor of one (not exactly an exciting milieu, I might add)…but I suspect that the director also intended to use the figurative meaning of someone being "taken for a ride" here. The film does have most of the qualities one associates with French cinema of the period (especially with respect to the acting strength and monochrome photography) but, as I said, plotting is rather weak throughout – while the iris effect utilized to depict the transition between past and present eventually becomes irritating with the repetition.