Crack in the Mirror (1960)

Three performers for six roles: this is the game of the film. A melodrama about two love triangles. In the first, Hagalin is killed by his mistress and her lover. In the second, attorney ... See full summary »

Director:

Richard Fleischer

Writers:

Marcel Haedrich (novel), Darryl F. Zanuck (as Mark Canfield)

Stars:

Orson Welles, Juliette Gréco, Bradford Dillman

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Orson Welles	...	Hagolin / Lamerciere
Juliette Gréco	...	Eponine / Florence
Bradford Dillman	...	Larnier / Claude
Alexander Knox	...	President
Catherine Lacey	...	Mother Superior
William Lucas	...	Kerstner
Maurice Teynac	...	Doctor
Austin Willis	...	Hurtelaut
Cec Linder	...	Murzeau
Eugene Deckers	...	Magre
Yves Brainville	...	Prosecutor
Vivian Matalon	...	Young man at Buvette
Jacques Marin	...	Watchman
Martine Alexis	...	Doctor's Wife
Marc Doelnitz	...	Journalist

Storyline

Three performers for six roles: this is the game of the film. A melodrama about two love triangles. In the first, Hagalin is killed by his mistress and her lover. In the second, attorney Lamorciere discovers her woman would like to elope with his assistant. During the trial against two murderer lovers, attorney agrees to a minor sentence for them.

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Plot Keywords:

neo noir | murder | 

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Taglines:

The end of an affair is sometimes sudden and shattering as a crack in a mirror!

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Genres:

Crime | Drama

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Did You Know?

Trivia

Before filming began, Orson Welles warned director Richard Fleischer that he would be far more difficult to direct in this film than he had been a year previously, when he appeared in Fleischer's "Compulsion". Although Welles had two roles in this film, he found neither one interesting, disliked his leading lady Juliette Greco and was all too aware of the inadequacies of the screenplay (written under a pseudonym by his old friend Darryl Zanuck, the producer). By his own account, Welles cut a number of his own speeches and generally made his role smaller, so that he would not become too bored. Director Fleischer later claimed that he had been quite willing, however, to do his own stunts in the film, as that would be a way of alleviating boredom.

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Quotes

Hagolin: You're late, every day. Slut! I'm dying of hunger.
Eponine: Die!

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Connections

Featured in Hollywood Remembers: Orson Welles

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Soundtracks

Eponine's Song
Written by Henri Patterson
Performed by Juliette Gréco

User Reviews

Terrific forgotten melodrama with the 3 leads playing 2 parallel roles

One of the outstanding--albeit forgotten--films of the early 1960s, CRACK IN THE MIRROR is a sizzling, frankly sexual, twist-filled drama with Orson Welles, Juliette Greco and Bradford giving the performances of their careers. (Make that the "two" performances of their careers!) In the first story, lower-class lovers Ms. Greco and Dillman are so in lust that they plan an intricate murder to rid themselves of Ms. Greco's dull husband, Mr. Welles. Now here's the twist. When they are put on trial for manslaughter, the distinguished judge is portrayed by Mr. Welles. And unbeknownst to him, a fellow detective (Mr. Dillman) and Mr. Welles' wife, the lustrous Ms. Greco, are also in heat and plotting to do away with him. To say anything more about this highly original, superbly-acted thriller would do it a disservice. Just SEE it, and savor three actors at their best (under Richard Fleicher's brilliant direction) in a film long-overdue for the praise it deserved some 40 years ago. Rating: ****

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English French

Release Date:

19 May 1960 (USA)

Also Known As:

Una grieta en el espejo

Filming Locations:

Studios de Boulogne-Billancourt/SFP - 2 Rue de Silly, Boulogne-Billancourt, Hauts-de-Seine, France

Company Credits

Production Co:

Darryl F. Zanuck Productions, Twentieth Century Fox

Technical Specs

Sound Mix:

Mono (Westrex Recording System)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1