Black Thursday (1974)
"Les guichets du Louvre" (original title)

Director:

Michel Mitrani

Writers:

Roger Boussinot (based on the story by), Albert Cossery (adaptation),

Stars:

Christian Rist, Christine Pascal, Judith Magre

1 nomination.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Christian Rist	...	Paul
Christine Pascal	...	Jeanne
Judith Magre	...	Mme Ash
Henri Garcin	...	Ernst Jünger, le grand écrivain allemand alors officier
Michel Robin	...	Le cousin / Cousin
Michel Auclair	...	M. Edmond
Jacques Rispal
André Thorent	...	L'agent de la gestapo / Gestapo man
Alexandre Rignault	...	Le voisin / Neighbour
Evelyne Istria	...	La mère / Mother
Jacques Debary	...	Le curé / Priest
Françoise Bertin	...	La teinturière
Alice Sapritch	...	La vieille dame / Old Lady
Jean-Claude Amyl	...	Lardy
Annick Fougery

Storyline

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Plot Keywords:

french resistance | based on novel

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Genres:

Drama

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Certificate:

PG

Details

Country:

France

Language:

French

Release Date:

22 December 1974 (USA)

Also Known As:

Black Thursday

Company Credits

Production Co:

Les Films du Parnasse, Saga, Les Films du Limon

Technical Specs

Runtime:

95 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

User Reviews

The roundup of Jews in the velodrome d'hiver,Paris 1942.

Black Thursday:the French police are arresting all the Jews,putting them on buses and sending them to the velodrome d'hiver.From here,next stop will be the concentration camps.

A young student,Paul decides to save some Jews.Having endured some refusals,he finally meets a young girl,Jeanne,(Christine Pascal) who reluctantly agrees to follow him.The depiction of the Jew community verges on caricature,focusing on commonplace and physical appearance:one critic wrote that Christine Pascal's nose seemed to have been reshaped in order "to look more Jewish".

Everything happens in the space of one afternoon:the French people are sometimes hateful,most of the time indifferent.Only a pimp(!) -a Michel Auclair's cameo,professeur Floster in "funny face"!- intervenes on behalf of Paul and his protégée!Absolutely all the Jews are resigned to their fate,which may seem simplistic to some.

This was the first fiction film to tackle this taboo subject,one of the darkest page of French history.But as far as cinema is concerned,you will be better off with Joseph Losey's "Mr Klein" (1976).