''Thérèse Raquin'' (also ''The Adultress'') is a 1953 French-Italian

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-g ...

directed by

Marcel Carné Marcel Albert Carné (; 18 August 1906 – 31 October 1996) was a French film director. A key figure in the poetic realism movement, Carné's best known films include '' Port of Shadows'' (1938), ''Le Jour Se Lève'' (1939), '' The Devil's Envoys ...

and starring

Simone Signoret Simone Signoret (; born Simone Henriette Charlotte Kaminker; 25 March 1921 – 30 September 1985) was a French actress. She received various accolades, including an Academy Award, three BAFTA Awards, a César Award, a Primetime Emmy Award, a ...

Raf Vallone The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) and ...

and

Jacques Duby Jacques Duby (7 May 1922 – 15 February 2012) was a French stage, film and television actor. He was born in Toulouse. Jacques Duby as narrator Some of his works include '' 101 Dalmatians'' (1961), ''Pinocchio'' (1968), and ''The Jungle ...

. The story is loosely based on the 1867 novel of the same title by

Émile Zola Émile Édouard Charles Antoine Zola (, also , ; 2 April 184029 September 1902) was a French novelist, journalist, playwright, the best-known practitioner of the literary school of naturalism, and an important contributor to the development of ...

but with the setting updated to 1953.Goble p. 979 It was shot at the

Neuilly Studios Neuilly (, ) is a common place name in France, deriving from the male given name A given name (also known as a forename or first name) is the part of a personal name quoted in that identifies a person, potentially with a middle name as we ...

Paris Paris () is the capital and 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), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

and on location in

Lyon Lyon,, ; Occitan: ''Lion'', hist. ''Lionés'' also spelled in English as Lyons, is the third-largest city and second-largest metropolitan area of France. It is located at the confluence of the rivers Rhône and Saône, to the northwest of t ...

. The film's sets were designed by the

art director Art director is the title for a variety of similar job functions in theater, advertising, marketing, publishing, fashion, film industry, film and television, the Internet, and video games. It is the charge of a sole art director to supervise and ...

Paul Bertrand Paul Charles Édouard Bertrand (10 July 1879, Loos-lez-Lille – 24 February 1944, Paris) was a French paleobotanist. He was the son of botanist Charles Eugène Bertrand (1851–1917). He studied at the University of Lille, receiving his d ...

. It was screened at the 14th Venice International Film Festival where it won the

Silver Lion The Silver Lion ( it, Leone d'argento, also known as Silver Lion for Best Direction) is an annual award presented for best directing achievements in a feature film at official competition section of the Venice Film Festival since 1998. The pri ...

Plot

Thérèse, an orphan, has been brought up by her widowed aunt in a dingy backstreet shop in Lyon and married to her sickly first cousin Camille. Into their stifling existence comes Laurent, a lively Italian truck driver. He is immediately struck by Thérèse, who succumbs to him but will not abandon her husband and aunt. Once aware of the relationship, Camille and his mother plot to get rid of Thérèse. Camille will take her to Paris and hand her over to another aunt, but Laurent climbs onto the train and, his temper overcoming him, pushes Camille out in the dark at full speed. He slips out at the next stop and Thérèse maintains to the police that she was asleep in her compartment the whole time. The news of Camille's death gives his mother a stroke that leaves her speechless, cared for by Thérèse who warns Laurent to stay away and not attract police attention. However there was another man asleep in Thérèse's compartment on the train and, when he sees the newspaper reports, comes down to Lyon and asks for half a million francs to stay silent. Knowing that Thérèse and Laurent might kill him rather than pay, he leaves a letter with the maid in his hotel, asking her to post it to the police if he does not return. They manage to find 400,000 francs, which he accepts and gives them a signed receipt but, on leaving, he is knocked over by a lorry and dies. The film ends as the maid takes his letter to the post.

Cast

as Thérèse Raquin *

as Laurent LeClaire *

as Camille Raquin * Sylvie as Madame Raquin *

Maria Pia Casilio Maria-Pia Casilio (5 May 1935 – 10 April 2012) was an Italian film actress, best known for major roles in ''Umberto D.'' and ''Un americano a Roma''. Born in San Pio delle Camere, L'Aquila, Casilio was quite active between 1952 and 1960, ...

as Georgette, la bonne *

Marcel André Marcel André (2 January 1885–13 October 1974) was a French film actor.Goble p.87 Selected filmography * ''Si l'empereur savait ça'' (1930) - Albert (Master of the Horse) * ''Soyons gais'' (1930) - Townley * ''Le père célibataire'' (1931) * ...

as Michaud *

Martial Rèbe Marcus Valerius Martialis (known in English as Martial ; March, between 38 and 41 AD – between 102 and 104 AD) was a Roman poet from Hispania (modern Spain) best known for his twelve books of ''Epigrams'', published in Rome between AD 86 and ...

as Grivet *

Paul Frankeur Paul Frankeur (29 June 1905 - 27 October 1974) was a French actor who appeared in films by Jacques Tati (''Jour de fête'') and Luis Buñuel (''The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie'' and ''The Phantom of Liberty''). He was sometimes credited a ...

as Le contrôleur *

Alain Terrane Alain Terrane (17 July 1923 - 28 February 2000) was a French actor. Filmography * 1948: '' Man to Men'' (by Christian-Jaque) - (uncredited) * 1949: '' Le Grand Cirque'' (by Georges Péclet) *1949: '' Branquignol'' (by Robert Dhéry) - (uncr ...

as Un camionneur * Bernard Véron as Le postier *

Francette Vernillat Francette Vernillat (16 April 1937 – 2 December 2019) was a French actress. She was often a voice actor for characters playing young boys. Filmography *''Autant en emporte le vent'' (1939) *''L'ombre d'un doute'' (1943) *''Monsieur Vincent'' (1 ...

as Françoise, la bossue *

Lucien Hubert Lucien is a male given name. It is the French form of Luciano or Latin ''Lucianus'', patronymic of Lucius. Lucien, Saint Lucien, or Saint-Lucien may also refer to: People Given name * Lucien of Beauvais, Christian saint *Lucien, a band member ...

as Le chef de gare de Dijon *

Madeleine Barbulée Madeleine Barbulée (2 September 1910 – 1 January 2001) was a French film, stage and television actress.''French Cinema in the 1970s: The Echoes of May'' p.265 Selected filmography * ''Métier de fous'' (1948) * '' Les Casse Pieds'' (1948) - ...

as Madame Noblet, une cliente *

Nerio Bernardi Nerio Bernardi (23 July 1899 – 12 January 1971) was an Italian film actor. He appeared in nearly 200 films between 1918 and 1970. He was born in Bologna, Italy and died in Rome, Italy. Selected filmography * ''Nero'' (1922) * ''The Sheph ...

as Le médecin *

Roland Lesaffre Roland Lesaffre (26 June 1927 – 3 February 2009) was a French film actor.Turk p.380 He appeared in many films directed by Marcel Carné. Selected filmography * ''La présidente'' (1938) * ''L'embuscade'' (1941) * '' La Marie du port'' (1950) - ...

as Riton, le matelot maître-chanteur

Reception

The Japanese filmmaker

Akira Kurosawa was a Japanese filmmaker and painter who directed thirty films in a career spanning over five decades. He is widely regarded as one of the most important and influential filmmakers in the history of cinema. Kurosawa displayed a bold, dyna ...

cited ''Thérèse Raquin'' as one of his 100 favorite films.

References

Bibliography

* Goble, Alan. ''The Complete Index to Literary Sources in Film''. Walter de Gruyter, 1999. * Hayward, Susan. ''Simone Signoret: The Star as Cultural Sign''. Continuum, 2004.

External links

* 1953 films Films directed by Marcel Carné French thriller drama films 1950s French-language films Italian thriller drama films 1950s thriller drama films Films based on works by Émile Zola Adultery in films French black-and-white films Italian black-and-white films Lux Film films Films shot in Lyon Films set in Lyon 1950s French films 1950s Italian films {{1950s-thriller-film-stub