Diabolique (1955) Les diaboliques (original title)

Director:

Henri-Georges Clouzot

Writers:

Pierre Boileau (novel) and
Thomas Narcejac (novel) ...
(more)

Release Date:

21 November 1955 (USA)

Genre:

Horror | Mystery | Thriller

Tagline:

See it, be amazed at it, but... BE QUIET ABOUT IT! (original Finnish poster tagline)

Plot:

The wife of a cruel headmaster and his mistress conspire to kill him, but after the murder is committed, his body disappears, and strange events begin to plague the two women.

Plot Keywords:

Headmaster | Mistress | Swimming Pool | Lodging House | Teacher

Awards:

4 wins

Cast

Simone Signoret	...	Nicole Horner
Véra Clouzot	...	Christina Delassalle (as Vera Clouzot)
Paul Meurisse	...	Michel Delassalle
Charles Vanel	...	Alfred Fichet, le commissaire
Jean Brochard	...	Plantiveau, le concierge
Thérèse Dorny	...	Mme. Herboux
Michel Serrault	...	M. Raymond, le surveillant
Georges Chamarat	...	Dr. Loisy
Robert Dalban	...	Le garagiste
Camille Guérini	...	Le photographe (as Camille Guerini)
Jacques Hilling	...	L'employé de la morgue
Jean Lefebvre	...	Le soldat
Aminda Montserrat	...	Madame Plantiveau
Jean Témerson	...	Le garçon d'hôtel (as Jean Temerson)
Jacques Varennes	...	M. Bridoux, professeur
Georges Poujouly	...	Soudieu, un élève
Yves-Marie Maurin	...	Moinet, une jeune Moynet
Noël Roquevert	...	M. Herboux
Pierre Larquey	...	M.Drain, professeur
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Jean-Pierre Bonnefous	...	Le jeune De Gascuel (uncredited)
Christian Brocard	...	Un homme à la morgue (uncredited)
Jean Clarieux	...	Le chauffeur (uncredited)
Henri Coutet	...	L'employé de la morgue (uncredited)
Michel Dumur	...	Le jeune Ritberger (uncredited)
Johnny Hallyday	...	Un élève (uncredited)
Henri Humbert	...	Patard, le jeune Patard (uncredited)
Roberto Rodrigo	...	Le petit Jose (uncredited)
Madeleine Suffel	...	La dégraisseuse (uncredited)
Jimmy Urbain	...	Un élève (uncredited)

Directed by
Henri-Georges Clouzot		(as H.G. Clouzot)

Writing credits
Pierre Boileau		(novel "Celle qui n'était plus") (as Boileau) and
Thomas Narcejac		(novel "Celle qui n'était plus") (as Narcejac)
Henri-Georges Clouzot		(scenario and dialogue) (as H.G. Clouzot) and
Jérôme Géronimi		(scenario and dialogue) (as Jérôme Geronimi)
René Masson		(collaboration) &
Frédéric Grendel		(collaboration)

Produced by
Henri-Georges Clouzot	....	producer (as H.G. Clouzot)
Georges Lourau	....	producer (uncredited)

Original Music by
Georges Van Parys

Cinematography by
Armand Thirard		(director of photography)

Film Editing by
Madeleine Gug

Art Direction by
Léon Barsacq

Costume Design by
Carven		(uncredited)

Makeup Department
Anatole Paris	....	makeup artist (uncredited)
Jeanne Witta	....	hair stylist (uncredited)

Production Management
Louis de Masure	....	production manager
Georges Testard	....	unit manager

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Michel Romanoff	....	assistant director

Sound Department
William Robert Sivel	....	sound (as William-Robert Sivel)

Camera and Electrical Department
Jean Dicop	....	assistant camera
Daniel Diot	....	assistant camera
Robert Juillard	....	camera operator
Jean Lallier	....	camera operator
Louis Née	....	camera operator (as Louis Nee)
Jacques Robin	....	camera operator
Robert Joffres	....	still photographer (uncredited)
Léo Mirkine	....	still photographer (uncredited)

Other crew
Richard Heinz	....	English version
Jeanne Witta-Montrobert	....	script supervisor

Production Companies

• Filmsonor
• Vera Films (associate)

Distributors

• Cinédis (1955) (France) (theatrical)
• United Motion Pictures Organization (UMPO) (1955) (USA) (theatrical) (English subtitles)
• Ariane Distribution (1993) (France) (theatrical) (re-release)
• British Film Institute (BFI) (2011) (UK) (theatrical)
• Ciné Vog Films (1955) (Belgium) (theatrical)
• Dear Film (1955) (Italy) (theatrical)
• Gala Film Distributors (1955) (UK) (theatrical)
• Kino International (????) (USA) (theatrical)
• Les Acacias (1996) (France) (theatrical) (re-release)
• TF1 International (????) (USA) (theatrical)
• Tamasa Distribution (????) (France) (theatrical)
• Union Film Wien (1955) (Austria) (theatrical)
• Arrow Film Distributors (2007) (UK) (video)
• Atlantic Film (2009) (Sweden) (DVD)
• Concorde Home Entertainment (2005) (Germany) (DVD)
• Criterion Collection, The (1999) (USA) (video)
• Criterion Collection, The (2011) (USA) (DVD)
• Criterion Pictures Corp. (1988) (USA) (TV) (new English subtitles)
• Crown Video (video)
• Dolmen Home Video (????) (Italy) (DVD)
• Foothill Video (video)
• Home Vision Cinema (????) (USA) (VHS)
• Homescreen (2012) (Netherlands) (DVD)
• Madacy Entertainment (1998) (USA) (VHS)
• Nostalgia Video (video)
• Public Media (????) (USA) (VHS)
• René Chateau Video (2000) (France) (DVD)
• Something Weird Video (SWV) (199?) (USA) (VHS)
• Umbrella Entertainment (2004) (Australia) (DVD)
• Umbrella Entertainment (2004) (Australia) (video) (VOD)

Special Effects

• LAX Lab.

Other Companies

• Éditions Denoël  novel publisher
• Son Artec  sound recording system (as A.R.T.E.C.)
• Éditions Choudens  music edition
• Franstudio  studios (as Franstudio-Saint-Maurice)

Also Known As:

"Les diaboliques" - France (original title)
"The Devils" - USA (TV title)

Runtime:

114 min | UK:92 min | USA:116 min

Country:

France

Language:

French | English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (A.R.T.E.C.)

Certification:

Australia:PG | Sweden:15 | USA:Unrated | Norway:16 | Italy:VM14 | UK:X (original rating) (1955) | UK:15 (re-rating) (1985) | Finland:(Banned) (1966) | Finland:K-18 (1956) | Finland:K-18 (1968) | South Korea:15 | France:U (Visa #14131) | UK:12A | Singapore:PG | Netherlands:16 (2012) (DVD) | West Germany:18 (nf) | France:-16 (original rating) | Italy:16+ (original rating) | Netherlands:18 (orginal rating)

Filming Locations:

Château de L'Étang-la-Ville, 8 Rue de Fonton, L'Étang-la-Ville, Yvelines, France.

Company:

Filmsonor

Trivia:

When director Henri-Georges Clouzot bought the film rights to the original novel, he reportedly beat Alfred Hitchcock by only a matter of hours.

Goofs:

Continuity: After MIchel has drunk the sedative and lies on the bed, Christina pulls his shoes off and drops them on the floor. When Nicole is filling the bathtub, she tells Christina to "take his shoes off." When the two women carry Michel from the bed to the bathroom, he is wearing his shoes.

Quotes:

[first lines]
Plantiveau, le concierge:Headmaster!
Michel Delassalle:Yes.
Plantiveau, le concierge:Isn't it time I rang the bell?
Michel Delassalle:It's okay. I'll unload the car myself.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in The House on Sorority Row (1983)

Intense claustrophobia

Les diaboliques is an unusually intense movie. I believe this is due to the well thought out choice of real locations and the masterful use of spatial entities and textures. Your memory really gets hooked on those things, and it gives the story a sense of reality that makes you feel uneasy.

Les diaboliques is as much a horror movie as it is a thriller. When I watch this I perceive an intense mouldy smell throughout. The crumbling boarding school where the main characters live and act is worse than any nightmare – even the swimming pool filled with murky water appears like a menacing abyss. The stifling crummyness is accentuated by the plot: School teachers sit at the sadistic principal's table in the refectory and have to force unspeakably ghastly meals down their throats (only one glass of wine is allowed). The second location is the principal's lover's apartment in a dead borough somewhere in no man's land. It's stuffy and utterly claustrophobic. The transfer between the two places is made with a "deux chevaux" station wagon – its characteristic back part of corrugated sheet metal once was a common feature in our parts of the world, as was the snarling sound of the deux chevaux‘s engine. In the corrugated iron "box" sits a creaky wicker crate, which on the way back from the lover's apartment contains evidence of the crime, wrapped in a checkered wax tablecloth. So you see shells within shells, not unlike one of those Russian wooden dolls. You don't know what you will find in the innermost until the end.