The Bride Wore Black (1968)
"La mariée était en noir" (original title)

Julie Kohler is prevented from suicide by her mother. She leaves the town. She will track down, charm and kill five men who do not know her. What is her goal ? What is her purpose ?

Director:

François Truffaut

Writers:

Cornell Woolrich (novel), François Truffaut (adaptation),

Stars:

Jeanne Moreau, Michel Bouquet, Jean-Claude Brialy

Nominated for 1 Golden Globe. Another 1 win & 1 nomination.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Jeanne Moreau	...	Julie Kohler
Michel Bouquet	...	Coral
Jean-Claude Brialy	...	Corey
Charles Denner	...	Fergus
Claude Rich	...	Bliss
Michael Lonsdale	...	Rene Morane (as Michel Lonsdale)
Daniel Boulanger	...	Delvaux
Alexandra Stewart	...	Mlle Becker
Sylvine Delannoy	...	Mme Morane
Luce Fabiole	...	Julie's mother
Michèle Montfort	...	Fergus's model
Jacqueline Rouillard
Paul Pavel	...	Mechanic
Gilles Quéant	...	Examining judge (as Gilles Queant)
Serge Rousseau	...	David

Storyline

Julie Kohler is prevented from suicide by her mother. She leaves the town. She will track down, charm and kill five men who do not know her. What is her goal ? What is her purpose ?

---

Plot Keywords:

wedding | serial killer | multiple murder | mural | scarf | 

---

Taglines:

She was a bride when the violence happened... Now she's a widow and it's going to happen again

---

Genres:

Crime | Drama | Mystery

---

Certificate:

Unrated

Details

Country:

France Italy

Language:

French

Release Date:

25 June 1968 (USA)

Also Known As:

The Bride Wore Black

Filming Locations:

Alpes-Maritimes, France

Box Office

Budget:

$747,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

$6,463 (USA) (4 November 2011)

Gross:

$37,508 (USA) (14 December 2012)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Les Films du Carrosse, Les Productions Artistes Associés, Dino de Laurentiis Cinematografica

Technical Specs

Runtime:

107 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

This film is François Truffaut's homage to Alfred Hitchcock, made shortly after Truffaut had published a book of extensive interviews with Hitchcock. As part of his homage, Truffaut chose a novel written by Cornell Woolrich, on who's story Hitchcock's Rear Window was based, and even chose long-time Hitchcock collaborator Bernard Herrmann to compose the score.

---

Goofs

When the Bride is looking at herself in the bathroom mirror after she changes into her Diana costume, she is wearing a bracelet; the bracelet is given to her by Fergus only after she is wearing the costume.

---

Quotes

Julie Kohler: Je suis Julie Kohler!

---

Connections

Referenced in The Family Stone (2005)

User Reviews

My favorite Truffaut film

While I felt pretty lukewarm about some of the more famous Truffaut's films (such as Jules and Jim and The 400 Blows), this film grabbed my attention and delivered great performances and exceptional writing throughout.

The film begins with a mysterious women arriving at a large party. She ingratiates herself to a gentleman there and walks out onto the apartment's balcony. Suddenly, she kills him and quietly vanishes from the party! Then, as the film unfolds she continues to dispatch specific men throughout the countryside. Why she is doing this is unclear until the latter part of the movie and I liked that because the viewer was both amazed at her inventiveness and viciousness yet perplexed as to WHY. The "why" I will leave to you to discover when you see the movie yourself--but do see it if at all possible.

Although not as good as this film, I also recommend you other Truffaut films, such as The Last Metro, The Wild Child or even the bizarrely stylistic Fahrenheit 451