Lovers of Paris (1957)
"Pot-Bouille" (original title)

Director:

Julien Duvivier

Writers:

Émile Zola (novel), Julien Duvivier (adaptation),

Stars:

Gérard Philipe, Dany Carrel, Jacques Duby

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Gérard Philipe	...	Octave Mouret
Dany Carrel	...	Berthe Josserand
Jacques Duby	...	Théophile Vabre
Anouk Aimée	...	Marie Pichon
Henri Vilbert	...	Narcisse Bachelard
Jane Marken	...	Eléonore Josserand
Jean Brochard	...	Duveyrier
Danielle Dumont	...	Hortense Josserand
Olivier Hussenot	...	Josserand
George Cusin	...	Compardon
Claude Nollier	...	Clotilde Duveyrier
Jacques Grello	...	Auguste Vabre
Micheline Luccioni	...	Valérie Vabre
Van Doude	...	Hector Trublot
Michèle Grellier	...	Fanny

Storyline

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Plot Keywords:

paris france | drapery store | fin de siècle | bourgeoisie | based on novel

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Genres:

Drama

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Details

Country:

France Italy

Language:

French

Release Date:

18 October 1957 (France)

Also Known As:

Lovers of Paris

Filming Locations:

Paris Studios Cinéma, Billancourt, Hauts-de-Seine, France

Company Credits

Production Co:

Paris Film Productions, Panitalia

Technical Specs

Runtime:

115 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Westrex Recording System)

Color:

Black and White

User Reviews

Truffaut said...So what?who cares?

It's a pity people think Duvivier is a "fifties qualité France " director ,like the precedent user .Actually he was already here in the twenties and he reached summits in the thirties with such gems as "la belle équipe" "carnet DE Ball" "pépé Le moko" or "la fin Du jour".That is not to say that it was downhill afterwards.Some of his finest works came later as marvelous film noirs such as "panique" and "voici Le temps Des assassins" bear witness.

"Pot Bouille" is precisely the "voici Le temps Des assassins" follow-up.After such an impressive work ,everything would be necessarily a letdown.And alas such is the case here.Duvivier's skills for desperate films noirs is not well applied on a Zola adaptation:"Pot Bouille" ,the 10th volume in the Rougon-Macquart saga ,is more a chronicle than a linear story.A lot of subplots interfere ,some of which have been -perhaps wisely ,because of the censorship of the era- passed over in silence:for instance,the maid who delivers her baby unbeknown st to the Bourgeois in the house is nowhere to be found in this adaptation.

Duvivier needs a compact screenplay,and his bite is most of the time inefficient here.There are some good things though :Jane Marken ,as the bourgeois matronly woman,who desperately tries to get her daughters a beau marriage shines in every scene she's in.But Gérard Philippe is not well cast as Mouret,being not cynical enough;besides the happy end is not faithful to Zola :Mouret was to be the main hero of his following novel "au bonheur Des dames" ;but in "pot bouille" he does not occupy the central place,because of the huge amount of characters.Duvivier's approach is too polite ,too clean to deal with Zola successfully.