Le loup des Malveneur (1943)

User Rating:

6.3/10   

Director:

Guillaume Radot

Writers:

Jean Féline (dialogue)
Francis Vincent-Bréchignac (dialogue)

Release Date:

30 April 1946 (Austria)

Genre:

Drama

Cast

Madeleine Sologne	...	Monique Valory
Pierre Renoir	...	Reginald de Malveneur
Gabrielle Dorziat	...	Magda
Michel Marsay	...	Philippe
Marie Olinska	...	Estelle Malveneur
Marcelle Géniat	...	Marianne
Louis Salou	...	Le docteur Andrieu
Yves Furet	...	Firmin
Jo Dervo	...	Le docteur Giraud
Henri Charrett	...	Le garde-chasse
Bijou	...	Geneviève
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Yolanda Fax
Eliane Gardaire

Runtime:

99 min

Country:

France

Language:

French

Color:

Black and White

Sound Mix:

Mono

Company:

Union Technique Cinematographique S.A. (UTC)

L'Eternel Retour.

Another movie of the Occupation days.There are harsh words said of this film ,although it retains a small cult among horror and fantasy buffs.First of all ,it's an escapism movie,like so many others in occupied country: "Les Visiteurs du Soir" ,although it did include veiled hints at the country's plight ,was an escapism movie;so was "L'Eternel Retour" which also featured Madeleine Sologne.

Hindsight displays a certain charm:the director is not Marcel Carné or Jean Delannoy/Jean Cocteau ,but he can create an atmosphere.Hr is abetted by a good cast .More than the young leads ( Madeleine Sologne and Michel Marsay,whose career was short-lived),it's the old guard who saves the film:Gabrielle Dorziat is as excellent as ever,Pierre REnoir is sinister-looking,Marcelle Géniat is no longer the nice old lady but a deaf and dumb disturbing servant.

There's a curse on the Malveneur family.There's a black legend which tells that one of their ancestors sold his soul to the devil and he was cursed: man by day ,wolf by night.These doomed aristocrats were hunters ,hence their name (Malveneur = evil venerer).But it also rhymes with "Malheur" (=misfortune).

The Last of the Malveneur is a scientist who carries out strange experiments on ...nobody knows exactly what the does in the subterranean.Up comes a governess who 's got to take care of the master's daughter.The wife has a heart condition ,her sister-in-law is a masculine authoritarian lady .And nights in the old castle are not exactly peaceful.

Based on Conan Doyle's "Hound Of Baskerville's pattern,the script lacks focus and the writers can spare 2 or 3 contradictions:for instance,the Malveneur are outcast,they must not be buried in the cemetery ,a consecrated place;however they (or at least the sister-in-law and her niece) go to church on Sunday! There's a laudable attempt to link the legend with the last of the Malveneur's fate and ,all in all,it's not that much bad after all.