This movie is casted with the best french actors of the time ; everyone of them made a sparkling career : Danièle Darrieux, Paul Meurisse, Lino Ventura, Bernard Blier, Paul Le Guers, Sege Reggiani, both in movies and theater. Many are second roles performers who illustrated themselves in mystery movies. The dialogues are witty; may be you have to know french to appreciate it to the most. The violence is in the heavy atmosphere unlike actual movies,although some scenes are physical.The plot is intelligent like an Agatha Christie and well organized by the Director. Jean Duvivier is one of the best of his generation. I would recommend it to any movie lovers.
16 Reviews
Path Of Least Resistance
writers_reign9 January 2006
Warning: Spoilers
This late offering (1959) from one of the all-time great French directors Julien Duvivier, with a taut script by Henri Jeanson makes for a very entertaining experience. An ex-Resistance member whose code-name was Marie-Octobre (Danielle Darrieux) gathers the old Group together several years after the war for a Reunion-cum-unmasking because back in 1944 one of the Group was killed by another member and now it's pay-back time. Duvivier skillfully manipulates his actors - some of the finest in French cinema at the time - without allowing either them or his camera to leave the confines of the house. Of course one could argue that Agatha Christie did it first but there's always room for well-done drama of this nature and with actors of the calibre of Paul Meurisse, Lino Ventura, Bernard Blier, Serge Reggiani and, of course, Danielle Darrieux a great time is had by all.
very much talking
wrvisser-leusden-nl30 June 2004
This movie is more like a theater-play: very much talking and hardly any action. All talking is done in French, and deals with a very haunting issue: in 1959 a former French resistance group reunites to search themselves for a traitor who killed one of them back in 1944. In this way a real Agatha Christie-like plot develops, all set in the long dark shadows of World War II and its horrors. Leading female star Danielle Darrieux gives a glittering performance, both in her talking and in her presence. The male cast around her consists of some of the greatest French actors at the time. 'Marie-Octobre' is not an easy movie to watch: you have to concentrate on it. If you do so, you'll be swept along onto its climax and surprising end.
A great film - the French answer to "12 Angry Men"
gridoon202424 December 2017
Warning: Spoilers
I just love films like this. A relatively small group of people, in one location, trying to figure out who among them is a traitor, in the course of one night. Yes, in the wrong hands they can easily become stagey or static, but in Julien Duvivier's sure hands the result is a perfect fusion of cinema and theater. The script, which is reminiscent of both "12 Angry Men" and Agatha Christie's "And Then There Were None", is riveting; not only does it keep you guessing all the way, but just when you think it's all over, it has more aces up its sleeve. The ending is satisfying in its own dark way. The cast is magnificent. The idea of the only background sound being the crackle of the fireplace is a brilliant one. It's a great movie, with lots of replay value. ***1/2 out of 4.
"If we were to end the evening now,our goodbyes would ring hollow."
morrison-dylan-fan16 July 2016
Warning: Spoilers
Despite having heard of her after finding out that she was one of the leading stars of the "Occupation era" I for some reason have never got round to catching a glimpse of Danielle Darrieux.Searching round for titles from film maker Julien Duvivier,I was pleased to spot a movie starring Darrieux,which led to me getting ready to meet Marie Octobre.
View on the film:
Placing the most famous,and one of the most controversial actresses during the Nazi Occupation of France,co-writer/(along with Henri Jeanson & Jacques Robert) director Julien Duvivier looks deep into the murkiest Film Noir shadows to study the raw ripples still being cast from the era.Placing them all in one room,the writers brilliantly turn the screws to bring out their ghosts,with the brittle dialogue carrying the immovable regret and mistrust which has been buried deep within each character over the past 15 years.Following one of Duvivier's major auteur themes,the writers cleverly make the murder mystery one piece a Film Noir prison,where anyone who tries to escape is slammed down to a floor of hell,as the sainthood looks down from above.
Keeping them all in one location, Duvivier & cinematographer Robert Lefebvre masterfully map out framing the group in small pieces so that the viewer can pick up on the smallest change of body language taking place in the background and the foreground. Opening up what took place 15 years ago, Duvivier stylishly glides round the room and looks to the walls to unleash a fantastic,slow-burn Film Noir atmosphere,as the ceiling crushes The Networks wires.
Taking centre stage, Danielle Darrieux gives an alluring performance as Dumoulin.by cutting a lean smoking femme fatale figure whose acts during the Occupation Darrieux keeps haunting over Dumoulin's shoulder.Joining Darrieux, Lino Ventura gives a superbly tough performance as fellow member Carlo Bernardi,whilst Paul Guers gets priest Père Yves Le Guen to look to the sky,as The Network beings its broadcast.
View on the film:
Placing the most famous,and one of the most controversial actresses during the Nazi Occupation of France,co-writer/(along with Henri Jeanson & Jacques Robert) director Julien Duvivier looks deep into the murkiest Film Noir shadows to study the raw ripples still being cast from the era.Placing them all in one room,the writers brilliantly turn the screws to bring out their ghosts,with the brittle dialogue carrying the immovable regret and mistrust which has been buried deep within each character over the past 15 years.Following one of Duvivier's major auteur themes,the writers cleverly make the murder mystery one piece a Film Noir prison,where anyone who tries to escape is slammed down to a floor of hell,as the sainthood looks down from above.
Keeping them all in one location, Duvivier & cinematographer Robert Lefebvre masterfully map out framing the group in small pieces so that the viewer can pick up on the smallest change of body language taking place in the background and the foreground. Opening up what took place 15 years ago, Duvivier stylishly glides round the room and looks to the walls to unleash a fantastic,slow-burn Film Noir atmosphere,as the ceiling crushes The Networks wires.
Taking centre stage, Danielle Darrieux gives an alluring performance as Dumoulin.by cutting a lean smoking femme fatale figure whose acts during the Occupation Darrieux keeps haunting over Dumoulin's shoulder.Joining Darrieux, Lino Ventura gives a superbly tough performance as fellow member Carlo Bernardi,whilst Paul Guers gets priest Père Yves Le Guen to look to the sky,as The Network beings its broadcast.
Resistance and whodunit.
dbdumonteil24 May 2002
Resistance fighter Marie-Octobre (it's her former code name) gathers her mates after the war.There's a traitor among them and they've got to discover him and do away with him.The audience is induced to suspect one by one all the "guests",à la Agatha Christie.The film forgets the historical background very quick to focus on an efficient but rather artificial suspense.
The good cast (Danielle Darrieux,Serge reggiani,Bernard Blier,Paul Meurisse) makes up for the conventional side of this story.It' s a watchable work,but it's not representative of Julien Duvivier's greatness:he was in the last part of his brilliant career and time had begun to take its toll.But his touch is still here though.
The good cast (Danielle Darrieux,Serge reggiani,Bernard Blier,Paul Meurisse) makes up for the conventional side of this story.It' s a watchable work,but it's not representative of Julien Duvivier's greatness:he was in the last part of his brilliant career and time had begun to take its toll.But his touch is still here though.
Excellent, don't miss it !
plarnet20 May 2002
This is one the best movies directed by Julien Duvivier with a perfect french casting : lino ventura, bernard blier, serge reggiani, robert dalban, etc... The script is very good, the acting just perfect and the atmosphere is really great. Well, a perfect french movie don't miss it !
Behind closed doors.
brogmiller18 November 2021
The plot of Jacques Robert's novel 'Marie-Octobre' of 1948 and Michael McCarthy's film 'The Traitor' from 1957 are too alike to be coincidental but there the similarity ends for when Robert adapted his work for the screen he had the services of one of the greatest directors Julien Duvivier, the superlative dialogue writer Henri Jeanson and a cast comprising some of France's finest.
The subject matter could not fail to strike a chord with Gallic audiences, dealing as it does with treachery and collaborationism during the German occupation. It also works as mystery thriller as suspicion falls upon each of the protagonists in turn until the traitor is finally unmasked. The question then arises as to the method of punishment......
Filmed in three weeks on a single set designed by Georges Wakhévitch and observing the Aristotelian unities of time, place and action, this could easily be filmed theatre but becomes much more thanks to the masterly manner in which the director moves and groups his players and the clever camerawork of Robert Lefebvre. Apparently it was shot in sequence so that none of the actors knew the identity of the culprit and what actors they are! Each possessing an unique persona but delivering ensemble playing of the highest order.
The only negatives are the sudden bursts of music at certain dramatic moments and the truly laughable sub-titling.
The post-war films of Monsieur Duvivier are variable but he remains one of the Big Five of France's Golden Age. He departed this life in 1967 and this finely executed, technically polished piece is arguably his dernier hourra.
The subject matter could not fail to strike a chord with Gallic audiences, dealing as it does with treachery and collaborationism during the German occupation. It also works as mystery thriller as suspicion falls upon each of the protagonists in turn until the traitor is finally unmasked. The question then arises as to the method of punishment......
Filmed in three weeks on a single set designed by Georges Wakhévitch and observing the Aristotelian unities of time, place and action, this could easily be filmed theatre but becomes much more thanks to the masterly manner in which the director moves and groups his players and the clever camerawork of Robert Lefebvre. Apparently it was shot in sequence so that none of the actors knew the identity of the culprit and what actors they are! Each possessing an unique persona but delivering ensemble playing of the highest order.
The only negatives are the sudden bursts of music at certain dramatic moments and the truly laughable sub-titling.
The post-war films of Monsieur Duvivier are variable but he remains one of the Big Five of France's Golden Age. He departed this life in 1967 and this finely executed, technically polished piece is arguably his dernier hourra.
The difficult search for a traitor at home fifteen years after the war
clanciai30 December 2019
Warning: Spoilers
This is an impressing chamber drama, as the entire action takes place in the same room, in one consecutive moment, as if the camera caught the very moment of the trial as it occurs. Danielle Darrieux has met with someone who has suggested that their resistance group was betrayed from the inside, so she collects all the members of the resistance group from the war after fifteen years to find out the truth about the betrayal. As they all more or less interrogate each other, they more often than not get caught up and stuck on the wrong tracks, but Danielle Darrieux is insistent and refuses to give up, although she was herself involved in the love intrigue that seems to have resulted in the betrayal. As the audience, you will yourself feel lost in this maze of relationship complications and paranoid suspicions, but in the end the sky will clear, and whether you like and accept the conclusion or not, the trial reaches a logical and definite end. You might agree with the priest, that after so many years everything should be forgiven and forgotten, especially if the disaster was triggered by misunderstandings of love, and not everyone will be satisfied by this film. It is exciting and intriguing enough though.
admirable crafted
Kirpianuscus20 October 2022
At first sight, a policier. Or adaptation of Agatha Christie novel. Or only a war story. Or a story of revenge.
But each of this definitions works in some measure. It is a film admirable crafted and this represents one of its basic virtues. The second good point, obvious , the cast. Not the last, the atmosphere, constructed crumb by crumb.
After fifteen years , a sort of trial . The members of resistance group looking for the author of murder of one of them. Danielle Darrieux is just superb, proposing a great character in wich past love remains part of desire, cold one, of justice.
A film captivating the viewer as testimony of this special hunt of truth, in which the accusations, doubts, excuses are mixed in a large effort to cure a stain of past.
But each of this definitions works in some measure. It is a film admirable crafted and this represents one of its basic virtues. The second good point, obvious , the cast. Not the last, the atmosphere, constructed crumb by crumb.
After fifteen years , a sort of trial . The members of resistance group looking for the author of murder of one of them. Danielle Darrieux is just superb, proposing a great character in wich past love remains part of desire, cold one, of justice.
A film captivating the viewer as testimony of this special hunt of truth, in which the accusations, doubts, excuses are mixed in a large effort to cure a stain of past.
Housebound Agatha Christie-style mystery
melvelvit-129 May 2011
What struck me most about Julien Duvivier's MARIE-OCTOBRE, an Agatha Christie-style mystery about a former resistance leader (Danielle Darrieux) who gathers her old cohorts together to flush out the Judas who betrayed them, was how the plot was set in motion. Fifteen years after the war, Marie runs a fashion house and a German buyer, a former Wehrmacht officer, recognized her and let it slip in casual conversation that one of her own had turned them in back in the day -only he couldn't remember their name. Former enemies striking up an acquaintance many years later and reminiscing about the war "like old friends" doubtless happened to many a Yank and British vet on Continental vacations back in the '50s and '60s but in this instance that betrayal caused the death of Marie's lover. She never married, never forgot, and her insistence on a day of reckoning stood in stark contrast to the near-indifference most of the others exhibited (there was one suspect who kept sneaking away from the investigation to watch wrestling on TV). They all had gotten on with their lives and preferred to let the past stay buried, even a priest.
It's a good idea with an obvious flaw, unfortunately -the entire film takes place in a drawing room and is all talk, talk, talk. MARIE-OCTOBRE positively cries out for flashbacks and if it had only "opened up", it could have been impressive, indeed, and would most likely be much better known today. Still, the movie's got a great "name" cast and the tale itself is quite involving. Recommended.
It's a good idea with an obvious flaw, unfortunately -the entire film takes place in a drawing room and is all talk, talk, talk. MARIE-OCTOBRE positively cries out for flashbacks and if it had only "opened up", it could have been impressive, indeed, and would most likely be much better known today. Still, the movie's got a great "name" cast and the tale itself is quite involving. Recommended.
Duvivier walks in a stony ground!!!
elo-equipamentos23 February 2020
Undoubtedly another great Duvivier's picture, this time touching in a neuralgic matter, due on occupied France many cooperating with the Germans invaders, this is the main point, after a fifteen years a hearsay came to Marie-Octobre's ears and his slavish admirer Léon Blanchet (Robert Dalban), thus they decided gathered all member of the French resistance at those time to find out the real traitor and thief, the meeting shall be in the same place where everything happened, that ends up with the Gestapo breaking out the meeting, also killing his leader, further the traitor also stolen three millions francs, they are eleven, a pressman, a priest, a tax collector, industrialist, a butcher, an attorney, a locksmith, a doctor, among others and the still young Lino Ventura as Carlo Bernardi as night club's owner, they faces each other, many things come up, suspicions on the air, in searching for the truth they reconstituting the final scene when his leader was killed, robust and valuable effort, displaying the human nature even on the worst wartime backdrop, Duvivier walks in a stony ground!!!
Resume:
First watch: 2020 / How many: 1 / Source: DVD / Rating: 8.5
Resume:
First watch: 2020 / How many: 1 / Source: DVD / Rating: 8.5
Huis clos
oOgiandujaOo_and_Eddy_Merckx11 December 2016
Duvivier seems capable like no other of really laying out the most unpalatable truths. The movie shows a group of resistance fighters assemble for a reunion 15 years after the war is over. It's genre is whodunnit (who betrayed our leader in this case), but it's a lot more impressive than that suggests. What the structure does do is allow for a lot of suspense, the movie really kept me fascinated.
Right from the start nothing appears particularly heroic about the group, their meet up is as awkward as an SS reunion. After the war they all went their separate ways pretty much (with exceptions, such as Marie-Octobre and Francois, the rich industrialist who funds her fashion house). Why is this important. It feels like they maybe did dirty things together, took justice into their own hands, skulked around in the shadows. Maybe their cause justifies everything, I guess that would be the traditional view anyway. I'm in my mid thirties and I never met anyone who believed in a cause, people choose activities and roles that suit them, that is all, killing as an activity is much more fundamental than the cause it underlies.
There is something extremely unhealthy about the male "comrades" and their attitude to Marie-Octobre. At the beginning Francois introduces her as "notre fleur de fusil", or the rose in our guns. Her role generally seems to be "unattainable sex object". She refers to the gathering at one point as a "huis clos", a term for a closed proceedings, but surely meant to evoke Sartre's play ("No Exit" in English), about the pain of being aware of yourself an an object to others' perception, set in Hell. I refer to them as comrades in inverted commas because they are all quite ready to suspect one another at the drop of a hat. In a particularly galling act of cowardice they all write down the name of the person they prejudge as being guilty and anonymously drop their ballots into an urn.
No new truths are discovered in the course of the meeting, these are all people who know one another, all they have to do is work out, in a rather anally retentive fashion how each individual's proclivities could have lead to the death of their leader.
I personally found the elegant and aristocratic Francois almost intolerably overbearing and sanctimonious. His view of order must be imposed on everyone else. I never felt more in favour of anarchy than when watching this movie.
Right from the start nothing appears particularly heroic about the group, their meet up is as awkward as an SS reunion. After the war they all went their separate ways pretty much (with exceptions, such as Marie-Octobre and Francois, the rich industrialist who funds her fashion house). Why is this important. It feels like they maybe did dirty things together, took justice into their own hands, skulked around in the shadows. Maybe their cause justifies everything, I guess that would be the traditional view anyway. I'm in my mid thirties and I never met anyone who believed in a cause, people choose activities and roles that suit them, that is all, killing as an activity is much more fundamental than the cause it underlies.
There is something extremely unhealthy about the male "comrades" and their attitude to Marie-Octobre. At the beginning Francois introduces her as "notre fleur de fusil", or the rose in our guns. Her role generally seems to be "unattainable sex object". She refers to the gathering at one point as a "huis clos", a term for a closed proceedings, but surely meant to evoke Sartre's play ("No Exit" in English), about the pain of being aware of yourself an an object to others' perception, set in Hell. I refer to them as comrades in inverted commas because they are all quite ready to suspect one another at the drop of a hat. In a particularly galling act of cowardice they all write down the name of the person they prejudge as being guilty and anonymously drop their ballots into an urn.
No new truths are discovered in the course of the meeting, these are all people who know one another, all they have to do is work out, in a rather anally retentive fashion how each individual's proclivities could have lead to the death of their leader.
I personally found the elegant and aristocratic Francois almost intolerably overbearing and sanctimonious. His view of order must be imposed on everyone else. I never felt more in favour of anarchy than when watching this movie.
A rare Duvivier failure
robert-temple-118 October 2017
This film is that very rare thing, a French classic which is no good. French classics are usually terrific, and Julien Duvivier was one of France's most brilliant film directors. Here he tries every trick he knows to try to prevent the film from being tedious and boring, but he fails. But not for lack of effort, for if there is a camera angle which can help, a bit of movement which can inject some pretense of life into the inaction, he tries it. And the film is certainly not helped by the wooden performance of the lead actress, Danielle Darrieux. She seems to think that in order to be mysterious she needs to be a block of wood. But in this she mistakes corpse-like non-response for inscrutability. It is a terrible miscalculation, and clearly Duvivier was unable to control her, assuming, that is, that he was not so mesmerised by her beauty that he became unable to see clearly. Sometimes Darrieux adopts the expression of a vain woman looking into a mirror and passively admiring her looks, even when she is meant to be listening to one of the other actors. (Was she seeing her reflection in the other person's eyes?) But let's tackle what is really wrong with this film. It is a group of men and one woman alone in a room for 99 minutes. There is only the one set. And they talk, and they talk and they talk. Yawn, yawn, yawn. The film is set in 1959 (the year of the film's release). The group of people have all gathered together for the first time in 15 years, to honour the 15th anniversary of the death of the leader of their wartime Resistance organisation. After a luxurious dinner, the real business begins. Marie, called by her nom de guerre 'Marie-Octobre', wants to find out who murdered the leader, who, it transpires, had been her secret lover (and we are meant to believe that the others never knew this, so pull the other one). It happened when the Gestapo unexpectedly raided this very same room in August, 1944. She has learned in the interim that they came because of a traitor in their midst. She says one of them is a traitor. From that point on, the film becomes a kind of inferior Agatha Christie whodunit story with all the suspects grilled one by one, each revealing a secret and each in turn being found to be suspicious in some way or other. But this is not only very talky, it is way overdone. The cast is one of famous French actors of the period. Like the director, they try and try to make this sodden drama interesting, but they fail. They flap about like fish out of water. Flap flap, flap flap. But we don't get high drama, we just get fish out of water. This film was restored in 2016 in the admirable series of Pathe/Leydoux restorations of classic French cinema. It is now on Blu-ray with English subtitles. This is the first of that series of films which I have seen so far which has been a disappointment. It was worth doing, but that is a different thing from its being worth seeing.
riveting huis-clos
myriamlenys7 June 2019
Warning: Spoilers
Fifteen years after the end of the second World War, the surviving members of a Resistance netwerk meet for a reunion. Now returned to everyday civilian life, they have all gone their individual way, adopting professions such as priest, lawyer, fashion designer, owner of a racy nightclub. "Marie-Octobre", the beautiful woman who was the group's muse and mascot, discloses the real reason behind the reunion, to wit the discovery of the traitor who betrayed them to the Gestapo and caused the death of their leader Castille. As the mood gets ever more vicious, accusations and insults fly...
This black-and-white thriller is one of the best thrillers ever made in France. Everything about it is exceptional : its intrigue, its screenplay, its cast. It's a dark mix of suspense, satire and, yes, even wit. Much of the dialogue is an exercise in beautifully honed savagery.
The whole of the story is set in a single mansion which is provided with every convenience and adorned with costly artwork. The setting remains the same, and yet it seems to change, morphing into a cage, a hall of mirrors, an arena, a courtroom. Eventually it becomes a place of execution, since the price of treason is death...
The inclusion of a television set in the mansion allows for some change and for some symbolism, since the images being shown represent a wrestling match (presumably of the catch-as-catch-can type). In its purest form, wrestling is a sport dependent on strength, suppleness and guile. In a more debased form, wrestling hits a sweet spot between a blood sport and a theatrical extravaganza where everything is possible : ganging up two against one, attacking the referee, "dying" and resurrecting, running away and hiding amidst the public. One rather gets what the director wanted to express here...
The movie states an eternal but eternally unwelcome truth, to wit that there is no human fellowship, however noble, fraternal and close, which does not hide undercurrents of rivalry or vileness.
This black-and-white thriller is one of the best thrillers ever made in France. Everything about it is exceptional : its intrigue, its screenplay, its cast. It's a dark mix of suspense, satire and, yes, even wit. Much of the dialogue is an exercise in beautifully honed savagery.
The whole of the story is set in a single mansion which is provided with every convenience and adorned with costly artwork. The setting remains the same, and yet it seems to change, morphing into a cage, a hall of mirrors, an arena, a courtroom. Eventually it becomes a place of execution, since the price of treason is death...
The inclusion of a television set in the mansion allows for some change and for some symbolism, since the images being shown represent a wrestling match (presumably of the catch-as-catch-can type). In its purest form, wrestling is a sport dependent on strength, suppleness and guile. In a more debased form, wrestling hits a sweet spot between a blood sport and a theatrical extravaganza where everything is possible : ganging up two against one, attacking the referee, "dying" and resurrecting, running away and hiding amidst the public. One rather gets what the director wanted to express here...
The movie states an eternal but eternally unwelcome truth, to wit that there is no human fellowship, however noble, fraternal and close, which does not hide undercurrents of rivalry or vileness.
Duvivier's Nine Angry Men (Plus One Woman)
keithhmessenger29 August 2023
Warning: Spoilers
The comparison between Julien Duvivier's masterly 1959 drama and Sidney Lumet's equally impressive 1957 film, 12 Angry Men struck me immediately on seeing Marie-Octobre. OK, the 'immediate' issues at stake may appear somewhat different - the US' very justice system in Lumet's film, national pride and honesty in Duvivier's 'resistance drama'. Digging deeper, however, and we find both films are essentially about the honesty and integrity of the human condition - Henry Fonda's principled stand in 12 Angry Men reveals the personal prejudices of his 11 fellow jurors, whilst Duvivier similarly delves into the backgrounds and personalities of his ten protagonists (eleven if we include Jeanne Fusier-Gir's governess Victorine) in an attempt to uncover who among the group might have, over a decade ago, betrayed (to the Nazis) their now deceased leader. Being essentially two films that are 'stagebound' (literally in the case of Lumet's adaptation of Reginald Rose's famous play) there is an argument that they must be 'cinematically limited', but the quality of the acting, the twists and turns of the narrative and Duvivier's exemplary character-building, belie such an analysis. Equally, Duvivier and his cinematographer, Robert Lefebvre, demonstrate the highest levels of visual skill, in the framing of Mare-Octobre's drama, Lefebvre's camera gliding seamlessly amongst the protagonists, delivering stunning close-ups and periodically capturing all ten of the 'judged' in single frames - elements in a visual construction which represents a key component in the film's approach to slow-build tension.
Acting-wise, Duvivier's film must rate as one of the finest I've seen, in this respect Lumet's 12 Angry Men is an obvious comparator, alongside a film like Elia Kazan's On The Waterfront. It would be easy to rate two of Duvivier's cast, Lino Ventura's hot-headed, ex-wrestler, now night club owner and Serge Reggiani's printer, as standouts given their pivotal roles at the heart of the drama, but I would tend to regard those in more supporting roles as at least as impressive, in particular, Bernard Blier's Lawyer, Paul Meurisse's industrialist, Paul Guers' priest and Noel Roquevert's tax inspector (Roquevert's profession drawing the expected ribbing from within the group). Danielle Darrieux (as the titularly code-named resistance woman, now haute-couturist), as one might expect, impresses too, if without quite the impact (partly down to her slightly more tangential role here) of her Countess Louise in Max Ophuls' 1953 masterpiece, Madame de.... The comparison between Duvivier's film and Lumet's appears to get even closer with two detailed plot points in Marie-Octobre - namely, Duvivier's choice of including a secret ballot to determine who amongst the ten is the guilty party and the inclusion of a 'distraction' (to the film's 'serious' themes) in the form of Paul Frankeur's salesman (and joker's) obsession with watching the wrestling on the TV (akin to Jack Warden's salesman in Lumet's film with his baseball obsession). Perhaps the film's only weak point is the, at times, overly melodramatic score by Jean Yatove.
Aside from the comparison with 12 Angry Men, the other comparator film that occurred to me in which a group of protagonists are forced to examine their potential guilt on an issue of morality is Guy Hamilton's version of J B Priestley's play, An Inspector Calls. In addition, Duvivier's film stands up well as another focusing on the French resistance, alongside classics by Jean-Pierre Melville (Le Silence de la mer, Léon Morin, Priest and Army of Shadows) and Louis Malle (Lacombe, Lucien and Au revoir les enfants), as well as being another impressive entry in Duvivier's filmography (La Belle Équipe, Pépé le Moko, Un carnet de bal, Deadlier Than the Male).
Acting-wise, Duvivier's film must rate as one of the finest I've seen, in this respect Lumet's 12 Angry Men is an obvious comparator, alongside a film like Elia Kazan's On The Waterfront. It would be easy to rate two of Duvivier's cast, Lino Ventura's hot-headed, ex-wrestler, now night club owner and Serge Reggiani's printer, as standouts given their pivotal roles at the heart of the drama, but I would tend to regard those in more supporting roles as at least as impressive, in particular, Bernard Blier's Lawyer, Paul Meurisse's industrialist, Paul Guers' priest and Noel Roquevert's tax inspector (Roquevert's profession drawing the expected ribbing from within the group). Danielle Darrieux (as the titularly code-named resistance woman, now haute-couturist), as one might expect, impresses too, if without quite the impact (partly down to her slightly more tangential role here) of her Countess Louise in Max Ophuls' 1953 masterpiece, Madame de.... The comparison between Duvivier's film and Lumet's appears to get even closer with two detailed plot points in Marie-Octobre - namely, Duvivier's choice of including a secret ballot to determine who amongst the ten is the guilty party and the inclusion of a 'distraction' (to the film's 'serious' themes) in the form of Paul Frankeur's salesman (and joker's) obsession with watching the wrestling on the TV (akin to Jack Warden's salesman in Lumet's film with his baseball obsession). Perhaps the film's only weak point is the, at times, overly melodramatic score by Jean Yatove.
Aside from the comparison with 12 Angry Men, the other comparator film that occurred to me in which a group of protagonists are forced to examine their potential guilt on an issue of morality is Guy Hamilton's version of J B Priestley's play, An Inspector Calls. In addition, Duvivier's film stands up well as another focusing on the French resistance, alongside classics by Jean-Pierre Melville (Le Silence de la mer, Léon Morin, Priest and Army of Shadows) and Louis Malle (Lacombe, Lucien and Au revoir les enfants), as well as being another impressive entry in Duvivier's filmography (La Belle Équipe, Pépé le Moko, Un carnet de bal, Deadlier Than the Male).
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