Diabolique (1955)

The wife and mistress of a loathed school principal hatch a plan to murder him while having the perfect alibi. They carry out the plan...but then his body disappears.

Director:

Henri-Georges Clouzot (as H.G. Clouzot)

Writers:

Pierre Boileau (novel) (as Boileau), Thomas Narcejac (novel) (as Narcejac)

Stars:

Simone Signoret, Véra Clouzot, Paul Meurisse

4 wins.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Simone Signoret	...	Nicole Horner
Véra Clouzot	...	Christina Delassalle (as Vera Clouzot)
Paul Meurisse	...	Michel Delassalle
Charles Vanel	...	Alfred Fichet, le commissaire
Jean Brochard	...	Plantiveau, le concierge
Thérèse Dorny	...	Mme. Herboux
Michel Serrault	...	M. Raymond, le surveillant
Georges Chamarat	...	Dr. Loisy
Robert Dalban	...	Le garagiste
Camille Guérini	...	Le photographe (as Camille Guerini)
Jacques Hilling	...	L'employé de la morgue
Jean Lefebvre	...	Le soldat
Aminda Montserrat	...	Madame Plantiveau
Jean Témerson	...	Le garçon d'hôtel (as Jean Temerson)
Jacques Varennes	...	M. Bridoux, professeur

Storyline

The wife and mistress of a sadistic boarding school headmaster plot to kill him. They drown him in the bathtub and dump the body in the school's filthy swimming pool... but when the pool is drained, the body has disappeared - and subsequent reported sightings of the headmaster slowly drive his 'killers' (and the audience) up the wall with almost unbearable suspense...

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Plot Keywords:

drowning in a bathtub | boarding school | disappearance of a dead body | surprise ending | teacher | 

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Taglines:

See it, be amazed at it, but... BE QUIET ABOUT IT! (original Finnish poster tagline)

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Genres:

Crime | Drama | Horror | Mystery | Thriller

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Certificate:

Not Rated

Details

Country:

France

Language:

French English

Release Date:

21 November 1955 (USA)

Also Known As:

The Devils

Filming Locations:

Rue Jean Mermoz, L'Étang-la-Ville, Yvelines, France

Box Office

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$12,498

Company Credits

Production Co:

Filmsonor, Vera Films

Technical Specs

Runtime:

117 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (A.R.T.E.C.)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

In reality, Simone Signoret did not know how to drive. Hence the reason why Véra Clouzot is seen doing all the driving in the film.

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Goofs

[All goofs for this title are spoilers.]

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Quotes

[first lines]
Plantiveau, le concierge: Headmaster!
Michel Delassalle: Yes.
Plantiveau, le concierge: Isn't it time I rang the bell?
Michel Delassalle: It's okay. I'll unload the car myself.

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Crazy Credits

The movie ends with a text screen commenting on what the viewer has witnessed, and a request not to spoil the ending for those who are planning to see the movie.

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Alternate Versions

USA release in 1955 ran 107 minutes rather than 116 minutes.

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Connections

Version of Diabolique (1996)

User Reviews

Intense claustrophobia

Les diaboliques is an unusually intense movie. I believe this is due to the well thought out choice of real locations and the masterful use of spatial entities and textures. Your memory really gets hooked on those things, and it gives the story a sense of reality that makes you feel uneasy.

Les diaboliques is as much a horror movie as it is a thriller. When I watch this I perceive an intense mouldy smell throughout. The crumbling boarding school where the main characters live and act is worse than any nightmare – even the swimming pool filled with murky water appears like a menacing abyss. The stifling crummyness is accentuated by the plot: School teachers sit at the sadistic principal's table in the refectory and have to force unspeakably ghastly meals down their throats (only one glass of wine is allowed). The second location is the principal's lover's apartment in a dead borough somewhere in no man's land. It's stuffy and utterly claustrophobic. The transfer between the two places is made with a "deux chevaux" station wagon – its characteristic back part of corrugated sheet metal once was a common feature in our parts of the world, as was the snarling sound of the deux chevaux‘s engine. In the corrugated iron "box" sits a creaky wicker crate, which on the way back from the lover's apartment contains evidence of the crime, wrapped in a checkered wax tablecloth. So you see shells within shells, not unlike one of those Russian wooden dolls. You don't know what you will find in the innermost until the end.