Reign of Terror (1949)

Robespierrre, a powerful figure in the French revolution, is desperately looking for his black book, a death list of those marked for the guillotine.

Director:

Anthony Mann

Writers:

Philip Yordan (story by), Æneas MacKenzie (story by) (as Aeneas MacKenzie)

Stars:

Robert Cummings, Richard Basehart, Richard Hart

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Robert Cummings	...	Charles D'Aubigny
Richard Basehart	...	Maximilian Robespierre
Richard Hart	...	François Barras
Arlene Dahl	...	Madelon
Arnold Moss	...	Fouché
Norman Lloyd	...	Tallien
Charles McGraw	...	Sergeant
Beulah Bondi	...	Grandma Blanchard
Jess Barker	...	Saint Just

Storyline

Robespierre, a powerful figure in the French Revolution and the subsequent Reign of Terror, is desperately looking for his black book, a death list of those marked by him for the guillotine and a key to help him eventually emerge as the country's dictator. He hopes his agents will recover it, but, if it falls in to the wrong hands, it would mean his political ruin and death.

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Plot Keywords:

french revolution | guillotine | dictator | reign of terror | terror | 

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Genres:

History | Romance | Thriller | War

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Certificate:

Approved

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

15 October 1949 (USA)

Also Known As:

The Black Book

Filming Locations:

Universal Studios - 100 Universal City Plaza, Universal City, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Walter Wanger Productions

Technical Specs

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Recording)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

In two scenes the background music is the popular Revolutionary song, Ca ira. The music director clearly knew his stuff.

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Goofs

In a conversation with D'Aubigny, Robespierre states that he turned 36 years old in the month of May. However, during their Reign of Terror, the French revolutionaries changed many things, including the calendar. They discarded the traditional Gregorian calendar (January, February, etc.) in favor of a new, decimal-based system, and called it the French Republican Calendar . There were still 12 months, but now each month had 3 10-day weeks (for 30 days) and all of the months were re-named. What would have been the month of "May" in the Gregorian calendar was changed to "Prairial" in the new calendar. ("Prairial" translates to prairie or meadow.) So being a good revolutionary, Robespierre would have used this new calendar and not the old one when referring to dates. He should have said he "turned 36 years old in Prairial" and not "May."

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Quotes

Maximilian Robespierre: That's *my* chair you're sitting in, Fouche.
Fouché: I just wanted to see how it fits.
Maximilian Robespierre: Danton liked to sit in that chair, too.
Fouché: And to think that he had supper with us only last night. It's amazing how fast you lose friends these days.
Maximilian Robespierre: And you never know who's next on the list, Fouche.
Fouché: It must be quite a thrill, making out your death list every night.

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Connections

Edited into Amérique, notre histoire (2006)

User Reviews

An intriguing movie

This is a low budget masterpiece, far more intriguing and suspenseful than most epic films dealing with the same subject. The film noir quality and acting are superb. As mentioned earlier, T-Men also made by the low budget studio Eagle-Lion, were and are memorable films. The cast is first rate . Robert Cummings, Richard Basehart, and Charles McGraw are standouts.

Thank goodness for Turner Classic Movies... it had been many years since I had seen it for the first time on television. Thanks to DVR I was able to record this film when it was played on TCM recently. This movie shows that with good acting, literate dialogue, and a great screenplay are what makes for an entertaining movie, which are in short supply today which too often offer computerized graphics, amateurish acting, and repetitive and crass dialogue instead. Kudos to Anthony Mann and the cinematographer for a great movie.