La Chartreuse de Parme (1948)

Fabrice del Dongo, a young archbishop, gives his all to romance rather than to the Church, creating complications for everyone around. The Countess of San Severina, is but one of the women ... See full summary »

Director:

Christian-Jaque

Writers:

Stendhal (novel), Christian-Jaque (screenplay)

Stars:

Renée Faure, Lucien Coëdel, Louis Salou

1 win.

Cast

Credited cast:
Renée Faure	...	Clelia Conti (as Renee Faure de la Comédie Française)
Lucien Coëdel	...	Rassi, le chef de la police (as Lucien Coedel)
Louis Salou	...	Le prince Ernest IV
María Casares	...	La duchesse Gina de San Severina (as Maria Casares)
Gérard Philipe	...	Le marquis Fabrice del Dongo (as Gerard Philipe)
Tullio Carminati	...	Le comte Mosca, le premier ministre
Aldo Silvani	...	Le général Conti, gouverneur de la prison de Parme
Maria Michi	...	Marietta
Claudio Gora	...	Le marquis Crescenzi
Louis Seigner	...	Grillo - le gardien de la Tour Farnese (as Louis Seigner Sociétaire de la Comédie Française)
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Mario Gallina	...	L'aubergiste
Albert Rémy

Storyline

Fabrice del Dongo, a young archbishop, gives his all to romance rather than to the Church, creating complications for everyone around. The Countess of San Severina, is but one of the women who love him a la folie, spurring jealous retribution in high places from those who in turn want her. From his prison window, Fabrice falls in love with the jailer's daughter who takes a vow to the Virgin Mary to never see him again if his escape succeeds.

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Plot Keywords:

love | prison | escape | star crossed lovers | minister | 

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Genres:

Drama | Romance

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Details

Country:

France Italy

Language:

French

Release Date:

21 February 1948 (Italy)

Also Known As:

Charterhouse at Parma

Filming Locations:

Como, Lombardia, Italy

Company Credits

Production Co:

Les Films André Paulvé,Scalera Film,Excelsa Film

Technical Specs

Runtime:

170 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The film was presented in Italy in two separate episodes, "L'ombra del patibolo" and "Amanti senza speranza". They were released respectively on 21st and 24th February 1948.

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Connections

Version of The Charterhouse of Parma (1982)

User Reviews

Fine, if overlong Stendhal adaptation

I quote from Time Out Film Guide, 11th ed. "...demonstrates to what degree French cinema de qualité was rather a matter of quantity, demanding a complacent accumulation of production values in lieu of the slightest vision or intelligence." This is boilerplate, trotted out to denigrate all literary adaptations made before Truffaut and Godard arrived on the scene. The film that I saw was made by a solid craftsman well before he became a hack. The sets are often stunning (the prison out of Piranesi), the costumes superb, the actors--well, you couldn't ask for anybody better than Gerard Philipe and Maria Casarès, both 25 at the time, Renée Faure, Louis Salou, Lucien Coedel.

Christian-Jaque had one big problem when he sat down with Pierre Véry to write the script: the novel is very digressive and full of scenes that don't advance the action. It takes 40 pages from the meeting with Giletti to the knife fight resulting in Giletti's death that puts Fabrice in prison. It was necessary to eliminate some minor characters and the opening chapters dealing with Waterloo are gone (major disappointment for Stendhal fans). Most problematical: the story really gets underway when Fabrice enters prison, and that isn't until Chapter 18, more than halfway through the book. If you can be patient and wait until the half way mark in a picture that lasts almost three hours, you will enjoy a classic.

Maria Casarès was too young to play La Sanseverina, a woman in her late thirties, but let's not observe tradition here. The sexual excitement around the Gina-Fabrice-Clelia triangle is only made more potent with Casarès. The happy few can be even happier.