Thérèse Raquin (1953)

Director:

Marcel Carné

Writers:

Émile Zola (novel) &
Marcel Carné (adaptation) ...

Release Date:

6 November 1953 (France)

Genre:

Crime | Drama | Romance

Plot:

A truckdriver kills the husband of the woman he loves, and becomes the object of blackmail.

Plot Keywords:

Blackmail | Train | Truck | Passion | Truck Driver

Awards:

2 wins & 1 nomination

Cast

Simone Signoret	...	Thérèse Raquin
Raf Vallone	...	Laurent
Jacques Duby	...	Camille Raquin
Maria-Pia Casilio	...	Georgette, la bonne (as Maria Pia Casilio)
Marcel André	...	Michaud
Martial Rèbe	...	Grivet (as Martial Rebe)
Paul Frankeur	...	Le contrôleur
Alain Terrane	...	Un camioneur
Bernard Véron	...	Le postier
Jean Sylvère		(as Jean Sylvere)
Francette Vernillat	...	Françoise, la bossue
Lucien Hubert	...	Le chef de gare de Dijon
Jacques Hilling		(as Jacques Hiling)
Jean Rozenberg
Madeleine Barbulée	...	Madame Noblet, une cliente (as Madeleine Barbulé)

Also Known As:

Teresa Raquin (Italy)
The Adultress (USA)

Runtime:

102 min | Canada:105 min

Country:

France | Italy

Language:

French

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Sound System PM51)

Certification:

Finland:K-16 | Sweden:15 | West Germany:16 (f)

Company:

Paris Film Productions

Trivia:

Raf Vallone refused to be dubbed in the French version and had his contract amended accordingly. The scenario was also slightly changed to "Italianize" the character of Laurent.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in La mala educación (2004)

Expected better

Therese (Simone Signoret) is unhappily married to Camille (Jacques Duby) and lives with him and his mother Madame Raquin (Sylvie) who is also her aunt. Basically, she's married to her cousin ....in the tradition of all royal families.....Anyway, the mother is over-protective of her son and critical of Therese while Camille is a spoilt brat who is rather feeble in both character and health yet tries to maintain a bullying stand with his wife. A good example of "small man syndrome". Not surprisingly, Therese is not happy with her lot. She meets Laurent (Raf Vallone) and they fall in love. Laurent wants her to leave with him immediately and confesses to their affair to Camille. Camille's solution is to take Therese away for a break where he intends to lock her up so that no-one can get to her. They get on a train for the journey but Laurent has other ideas. A passenger on the train, Michaud (Marcel Andre) also has other ideas........Do the lovers get away?

The film is slow moving so there are moments when you think "come on lets develop this story a bit quicker!" The acting is good from the main players and Marcel Andre has a definite Robert Mitchum look to him, if slightly camp. The ending is a mess that doesn't work itself out clearly. You will need to make assumptions as to what is probably going to be the outcome. I suspect that this was not the intention as we are offered the twist at the end. However, it doesn't work because of the circumstances.

Its alright but I thought it was going to be a better film than it was.