Mississippi Mermaid (1969)

A wealthy plantation owner is captivated by a mysterious woman with a shady past.

Director:

François Truffaut

Writers:

Cornell Woolrich (based on the novel by) (as William Irish), François Truffaut (adaptation)

Stars:

Catherine Deneuve, Jean-Paul Belmondo, Nelly Borgeaud

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Jean-Paul Belmondo	...	Louis Mahé
Catherine Deneuve	...	Julie Roussel / Marion Vergano
Nelly Borgeaud	...	Berthe
Martine Ferrière	...	Landlady
Marcel Berbert	...	Jardine
Yves Drouhet	...	Detective
Michel Bouquet	...	Comolli
Roland Thénot	...	Richard

Storyline

Louis Mahe is a tobacco planter at Reunion Island. He is waiting for Julie Roussel to marry him. He only knows her by mail. The woman that comes does not like the picture he got, but he marries her anyway. Soon, she flees with Louis' money. She was not the real Julie Roussel but Marion. Louis tries to find her... Another Truffaut's film about passion.

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Plot Keywords:

self destructiveness | woman | aix en provence | confidence woman | assumed identity | 

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Taglines:

The Bride Came as Advertised...With an Unadvertised Special

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Genres:

Crime | Drama | Romance

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for some nudity/sexuality

Details

Country:

France Italy

Language:

French

Release Date:

18 June 1969 (France)

Also Known As:

Mississippi Mermaid

Filming Locations:

Aix-en-Provence, Bouches-du-Rhône, France

Box Office

Budget:

$1,600,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$3,668, 12 July 2009, Limited Release

Gross USA:

$26,893, 20 March 2011

Company Credits

Production Co:

Les Films du Carrosse, Les Productions Artistes Associés, Produzioni Associate Delphos

Technical Specs

Runtime:

123 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Quite uniquely, director François Truffaut chose to shoot the film almost completely in chronological order. The reasoning for this was that he found the relationship between the two main characters so important, he wanted it to develop in a natural way. Truffaut actually spent the nights re-writing the scenes he would film the next day, to follow the dynamics between the leading couple.

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Goofs

When the disc Marion has recorded is run over in the street and shattered, she kneels to retrieve the pieces; at first her right knee is uppermost, but then suddenly her left knee is higher, as she stands.

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Quotes

Louis Mahé: Here we go. You're sulking. I knew it. Now you're just pretending to be mad because inside you're not really mad. You put on that cold look... but inside you're smiling. Come on. Show me your smile.
Julie Roussel: I'm fed up with all that smile crap! It doesn't work anymore! Don't speak to me. For Christ's sake, leave me alone!
Louis Mahé: All right. Okay. That's fine with me. It's not difficult to know what you're thinking of me. And you're asking yourself... "Why the hell am I with this guy who's broke... and can't ...
[...]

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Alternate Versions

SPOILERS: In some versions of this film, the image of the comic strip in the newspaper that makes Belmondo's character realize his wife has been poisoning him has been removed. The probable reason is that the whole idea is a bit naive and absurd, although without this image it is impossible to explain how the man finds out that he has been poisoned. (As the comic strip in question involves Disney-related art of Snow White being offered the poisoned apple by the Witch, the removal of the cartoon in some versions is more likely due to issues involving Disney's copyright.)

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Connections

Featured in Butchery & Ballyhoo (2016)

User Reviews

Romantic and suspenseful drama well realized by Truffaut in his own directorial style

This agreeable French movie deals about a millionaire owner of a tobacco factory on an African island nearly to Madagascar named Louis(Jean Paul Belmondo). He's a single man looking wife, then he advertises a bride and gets a gorgeous woman named Julia(Catherine Deneuve). When she spontaneously appears turns out to be much more attractive than expected. He marries to Julia but she suddenly disappears.A French eye private(Michael Bouquet) is hired by Julia's sister and soon he's on the trail of his previous spouse. Later Louis encounters her in a dancing-hall under another name. In spite of the romantic delusion and everything, Louis goes on enamored with his enigmatic wife.

This film is a splendid drama plenty of betrayal,deception, killing, theft and Hitchcockian suspense. Good performances by Jean Paul Belmondo as young proprietary of a cigarette company who seems determined to fall under the spell of a femme fatale and a wonderful Catherine Deneuve as suspect heroine. The film gets several references to the American cinema, but Truffaut(400 blows) was a fervent moviegoer, such as : Johnny Guitar, Colorado Jim, Bogart, and Hitchcock.The USA version was cut numerous minutes and deserves an urgent restoring and remastering. Loosely based on the novel titled'Waltz into darkness' by Cornell Woolrich (Rear window and screenwriter of Alfred Hitchcock hour) who also was adapted in 'Truffaut's The bride wore black'.Colorful cinematography by Denys Clerval(Stolen kisses) and atmospheric musical score by Antoine Duhamel, Truffaut's usual musician.This is one of the best of his suspense movies along with ¨Farenheit 451 and Shoot the piano player¨. Remade by an inferior version by Michael Christofer(2001) with Antonio Banderas, Angelina Jolie and Jack Thompson, full of erotic and lust scenes.