''Marie Antoinette Queen of France'' (french: Marie-Antoinette reine de France and also known as ''Shadow of the Guillotine'') is a 1956 French-Italian historical

drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular super ...

directed by Jean Delannoy who co-wrote the screenplay with Pierre Erlanger and Bernard Zimmer. The film stars

Michèle Morgan Michèle Morgan (; née Simone Renée Roussel; 29 February 1920 – 20 December 2016) was a French film actress, who was a leading lady for three decades in both French cinema and Hollywood features. She is considered to have been one of the g ...

and

Richard Todd Richard Andrew Palethorpe-Todd (11 June 19193 December 2009) was an Irish-British actor known for his leading man roles of the 1950s. He received a Golden Globe Award for Most Promising Newcomer – Male, and an Academy Award for Best Actor n ...

. It was nominated for the

Palme d'Or The Palme d'Or (; en, Golden Palm) is the highest prize awarded at the Cannes Film Festival. It was introduced in 1955 by the festival's organizing committee. Previously, from 1939 to 1954, the festival's highest prize was the Grand Prix du Fe ...

(Jean Delannoy) at the 1956 Cannes Film Festival. It was shot at the Billancourt Studios in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...

. The film's sets were designed by the art director

René Renoux René Renoux (1904–2000) was a French art director.Buache p.162 Selected filmography * ''The Pure Truth'' (1931) * '' Topaze'' (1933) * '' Prince Jean'' (1934) * '' Speak to Me of Love'' (1935) * '' You Can't Fool Antoinette'' (1936) * '' The ...

Cast

Marie-Antoinette Marie Antoinette Josèphe Jeanne (; ; née Maria Antonia Josepha Johanna; 2 November 1755 – 16 October 1793) was the last queen of France before the French Revolution. She was born an archduchess of Austria, and was the penultimate child ...

as le comte Axel de Fersen * Jacques Morel as Louis XVI *

Aimé Clariond Aimé Clariond (10 May 1894 – 31 December 1959) was a French stage and film actor. Clariond was born in Périgueux, Dordogne, France and died in Paris. Selected filmography * ''The Brothers Karamazov'' (1931) - Ivan Karamazoff * '' Amourous ...

as Louis XV * Jeanne Boitel as Mme Campan * Guy Tréjan as La Fayette *

Marina Berti Elena Maureen Bertolino (29 September 1924 – 29 October 2002), known professionally as Marina Berti, was an Italian film actress. She was born in London from an Italian father and an English mother. Biography Her first screen appearance was ...

as a comtesse de Polignac * Marcelle Arnold as Mme. Adélaïde * Jane Marken as Mme Victoire *

Jacques Dufilho Jacques Dufilho (19 February 1914 – 28 August 2005) was a French actor. He was born at Bègles (Gironde) and he died at Ponsampère (Gers). Life and career Dufilho appeared in 65 French productions. Moreover, he was frequently seen in Italian ...

as Marat *

Daniel Ceccaldi Daniel Ceccaldi (25 July 1927 – 27 March 2003) was a French actor. He was born in Meaux, Seine-et-Marne, France. The mild-mannered Daniel Ceccaldi is famous as Claude Jade's father ''Lucien Darbon'' in François Truffaut's movies ''Stolen Kis ...

as Drouet * Madeleine Rousset as Mme de Tourzel * Suzy Carrier as Mme Elisabeth *

Paul Bonifas Paul Bonifas (3 June 1902 – 9 November 1975) was a French actor, born in Paris. Career In the 1920s, while working for the French customs service, Bonifas took classes in acting at the Conservatoire de Paris in his spare time. He left wit ...

as Herman *

Jacques Bergerac Jacques Bergerac (26 May 1927 – 15 June 2014) was a French actor and businessman. Life and career Jacques Bergerac was born in 1927 in Biarritz, France, the son of Alice (Romatet) and Charles Bergerac. Bergerac was a law student when he met a ...

as le comte de Provence * Edmond Beauchamp as Comte de Luxembourg *

Yves Brainville Yves Brainville (8 March 1914 – 16 November 1993) was a French film and television actor.Hayward p.245 Selected filmography * ''Entrée des artistes'' (1938) - Sylvestre * ''Accord final'' (1938) - Chenal - l'ami de Georges * ''Eduardo VII'' ...

as Danton * Anne Carrère as Mme Du Barry *

as Drouet * Jean Claudio as Fouquier-Tinville * Anne Doat as Rosalie * Jacques Eyser as Joad *

Claudio Gora Claudio Gora, '' Emilio Giordana '' (27 July 1913 – 13 March 1998) was an Italian actor and film director. He was particularly prolific, making some 155 appearances in film and television over nearly 60 years (from 1939 to 1997). In the 1950s ...

as Kreutz *

Camille Guérini Camille Guérini (1900–1963) was a French film and television actor.Biggs p.158 Selected filmography * ''La Chanson du souvenir'' (1937) - Veit, l'ordonnance * '' The Blue Veil'' (1942) - d'Aubigny * ''Les ailes blanches'' (1943) - (uncredited ...

as Necker * Jean Hébey as Marquis de Migennes *

Jacques Hilling Jacques Hilling (26 May 1922 – 16 February 1975) was a French film actor. He appeared in more than 90 films between 1949 and 1975. Selected filmography * ''Return to Life'' (1949) - Un soldat (segment 4 : "Le retour de René") (uncredite ...

as Duc de Brunswick *

Georges Lannes Georges Lannes (27 October 1895 – 8 July 1983) was a French film actor who appeared in more than a hundred films during his career including '' André Cornélis'' (1927).Goble p.50 Selected filmography * '' The Mysteries of Paris'' (1922) * '' ...

as d'Avaray * Jacques Marin as Crieur de journaux *

Raphaël Patorni Raphaël Patorni (1911–1986) was a French film actor.Hayward p.439 Selected filmography * '' The Mysteries of Paris'' (1943) * ''The Island of Love'' (1944) * '' Jericho'' (1946) * '' Barry'' (1949) * '' Doctor Laennec'' (1949) * '' The Martyr ...

as Duc de Choiseul *

Michel Piccoli Jacques Daniel Michel Piccoli (27 December 1925 – 12 May 2020) was a French actor, producer and film director with a career spanning 70 years. He was lauded as one of the greatest French character actors of his generation who played a wide vari ...

as Le Prêtre réfractaire *

Marcel Pérès Marcel Pérès (born 15 July 1956, Oran, Algeria) is a French musicologist, composer, choral director and singer, and the founder of the early music group Ensemble Organum. He is an authority on Gregorian and pre-Gregorian chant. Pérès w ...

as Simon * Frédéric Valmain as Comte d'Artois *

Jean Vinci Jean may refer to: People * Jean (female given name) * Jean (male given name) * Jean (surname) Fictional characters * Jean Grey, a Marvel Comics character * Jean Valjean, fictional character in novel ''Les Misérables'' and its adaptations * J ...

as Toulan *

as le prêtre * Jacques Morlaine as Un officier *

André Chanu André — sometimes transliterated as Andre — is the French and Portuguese form of the name Andrew, and is now also used in the English-speaking world. It used in France, Quebec, Canada and other French-speaking countries. It is a variation ...

as Le Prêtre assermenté *

Georgette Anys Georgette Anys (15 July 1909 – 4 March 1993) was a French film and television actress. A character actress, she appeared mainly in French productions, but also some American films which were shot in Europe including Alfred Hitchcock's '' To Ca ...

as Une émeutière * Pierre Moncorbier as Le greffier

References

Bibliography

* Hayward, Susan. ''French Costume Drama of the 1950s: Fashioning Politics in Film''. Intellect Books, 2010. * Zea, Zahra Tavassoli . ''Balzac Reframed: The Classical and Modern Faces of Éric Rohmer and Jacques Rivette''. Springer Nature, 2019.

External links

*
''Marie-Antoinette reine de France''
at Alice Cinema * 1956 films Biographical films about Marie Antoinette French historical drama films Italian historical drama films 1950s French-language films 1950s historical drama films Films directed by Jean Delannoy 1956 drama films Films set in the 18th century Films set in Paris Films shot at Billancourt Studios Gaumont Film Company films 1950s French films 1950s Italian films {{1950s-France-film-stub