Devil in the Flesh (1947)

During World War I, the star-crossed affair of an underage French student with a woman engaged to a soldier.

Director:

Claude Autant-Lara

Writers:

Raymond Radiguet (novel), Jean Aurenche

Stars:

Micheline Presle, Gérard Philipe, Denise Grey

2 wins & 2 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Micheline Presle	...	Marthe Grangier
Gérard Philipe	...	François Jaubert
Denise Grey	...	Madame Grangier
Jean Debucourt	...	Edouard Jaubert
Palau	...	Monsieur Marin
Jean Lara	...	Jacques Lacombe (as Jean Varas)
Michel François	...	René
Richard Francoeur	...	Le maître d'hôtel du grand restaurant
Max Maxudian	...	Le maître d'école
Germaine Ledoyen	...	Madame Jaubert
Jeanne Pérez	...	Madame Marin
Jacques Tati	...	Un officier au bar
André Bervil	...	Le fêtard qui annonce l'Armistice avec un jour d'avance
Edmond Beauchamp	...	Le sommelier du grand restaurant
Charles Vissières	...	Anselme - le serveur du grand restaurant (as Charles Vissière)

Storyline

During World War I, underage student Francois Jaubert meets and falls in love with Marthe Grangier, who is engaged to Jacques, a soldier at the Front. Though Francois pursues her ardently, they become separated and she marries Jacques. But when Marthe and Francois meet again, their mutual feelings prove stronger than ever, and they begin an extramarital affair...regardless of potentially tragic consequences.

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Plot Keywords:

flashback | told in flashback | 1910s | year 1914 | teenage boy | 

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Taglines:

Intimate as a wire recorder in a bedroom!

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Genres:

Romance | Drama

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Details

Country:

France

Language:

French

Release Date:

9 May 1949 (USA)

Also Known As:

Devil in the Flesh

Filming Locations:

Studios de Neuilly, Neuilly-sur-Seine, Hauts-de-Seine, France

Company Credits

Production Co:

Transcontinental Films

Technical Specs

Runtime:

110 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Finnish censorship visa # 029602.

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Connections

Referenced in 2 x 50 Years of French Cinema (1995)

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Soundtracks

La Marseillaise
Written by Claude Joseph Rouget de Lisle
(1792)

User Reviews

Autant- Lara's career path

Fact 1:Claude Autant-Lara's mother was a pacifist activist.She was a thespian of la Comedy Française and she was fired because of her opinions in WW1.She was even jailed.

When it was released,"le Diable au Corps" caused a scandal;well-meaning people were saying that the Army ,the Red Cross,the soldiers and their wives were dragged through the mud.Autant Lara was a rebel at the time:conformism was not his way ,as such works as "Douce" had already shown.Raymond Radiguet's novel was tailor made for him.

Gerard Philipe was too old for the part:he was supposed to be 17,and he was actually born the same year as his co-star Micheline Presles!That's why such lines as "When you're young,I'll be old" cannot be taken too seriously by those who know the two French actors.But anyway Philippe's youthful looks can delude people quite well.

The film is a long flashback,with a prologue ,a scene in the middle of the film and an epilogue in the present.François attends her lover's funeral .Autant-Lara ,who was first a film editor ,makes the best of the sound effects and the fuzziness of the pictures when he introduces the three long flashbacks.This woman was married to a soldier gone to war.

Lines have warned us before the cast and credits;in brief,this is par excellence a romantic movie;some scenes are quite remarkable:

-The lovers in front of the fireplace,then boating on the lake where they are not sheltered from the outside world .

-The landing-stage ,which plays a prominent part in the story:when she leaves,it may be the last goodbye;the night they pretend they did not come to the rendezvous (and they both did).

• Marthe's coffin taken out of the church,when the crowd cries out of joy ,rejoices and applauds.Is it to celebrate the Armistice or to the adulteress 'death."Now,it's women's turn to die" a man yells.

FACT2: in the late fifties ,A.L.,who had not yet lost his bite,planned to make a movie about a burning subject:the contentious objector "Tu ne tueras Point".Gerard Philippe had agreed to play the lead,but he died before the movie could begin to be filmed (the censorship was harsh in the Algeria War years)and was replaced by Laurent Terzieff.

As an user points out,"Le Diable Au Corps" seems to have vanished into thin air.It has not been screened for years (more than 20 years).Is it because of the remake?Or like "Tu ne Tueras Point" which was never broadcast,is the subject still too scandalous?

FACT 3:A.L could never get over the Nouvelle Vague's (and others)attacks and if my memory serves me well,he gave some of his works to the Swiss government -"cause there(France) they ignore me,they despise me"-As an user wrote,he did support the far right wing circa 1980 till his death.(in spite of such works as "Le Franciscain de Bourges" (1967) an extraordinary performance by Hardy Kruger playing a Nazi priest,a saint in a living hell)