''Bluebeard's Ten Honeymoons'' (also known as ''Bluebeard's 10 Honeymoons'') is a 1960 British

thriller film Thriller film, also known as suspense film or suspense thriller, is a broad film genre that evokes excitement and suspense in the audience. The suspense element found in most films' plots is particularly exploited by the filmmaker in this genre. ...

directed by W. Lee Wilder and starring

George Sanders George Henry Sanders (3 July 1906 – 25 April 1972) was a British actor and singer whose career spanned over 40 years. His heavy, upper-class English accent and smooth bass voice often led him to be cast as sophisticated but villainous charac ...

Corinne Calvet Corinne Calvet (April 30, 1925 – June 23, 2001), born Corinne Dibos, was a French actress who appeared mostly in American films. According to one obituary, she was promoted "as a combination of Marlene Dietrich and Rita Hayworth", but he ...

, and

Jean Kent Jean Kent, born Joan Mildred Field (29 June 1921 − 30 November 2013), was an English film and television actress. Biography Kent was born Joan Mildred Field (sometimes incorrectly cited as Summerfield) in Brixton, London in 1921, the only c ...

. It was written by Myles Wilder. The story is loosely based on that of the real-life serial killer Henri Désiré Landru.

Plot

Art dealer Henri Landru becomes infatuated with burlesque performer, Odette, who already has a lover and is only interested in Landru for money. She tricks Landru into thinking her mother is sick and needs money for an important operation. Landru vows to raise the money to fund the operation. Landru attempts to find furniture that he can sell. He meets a young widow, Vivienne, who is hoping to sell some vintage furniture. He quickly charms Vivienne but when he later discovers she has sold her furniture to somebody else they quarrel, resulting in Vivienne's accidental death. Landru is able to cover up the manslaughter, but when he is able to easily claim Vivienne's furniture as his own and sell it he realises he has found an easy way to make money. Landru adopts several aliases and charms several wealthy, middle-aged women one by one, wooing them into marriage before killing them, usually by drugging them and then stabbing them. Landru later sees Odette with her lover and realises she has been stringing him along the entire time. He lures her to his villa where he murders her. Vivienne's sister has become suspicious over her disappearance but the police cannot help her without any evidence. She sets out to find Landru, eventually finding him at his rented villa. The police arrive and arrest Landru. The film ends with Landru's execution.

Cast

as Henri Landru *

as Odette *

as Julienne Guillin *

Patricia Roc Patricia Roc (born Felicia Miriam Ursula Herold; 7 June 1915 – 30 December 2003) was an English film actress, popular in the Gainsborough melodramas such as '' Madonna of the Seven Moons'' (1945) and ''The Wicked Lady'' (1945), though she on ...

as Vivienne Dueaux *

Greta Gynt Greta Gynt (born Margrethe Woxholt; 15 November 1916 – 2 April 2000) was a Norwegian dancer and actress. She is remembered for her starring roles in the British classic films '' The Dark Eyes of London'', '' Mr. Emmanuel'', ''Take My Life'', '' ...

as Jeanette *

Maxine Audley Maxine Audley (29 April 1923 – 23 July 1992) was an English theatre and film actress. She made her professional stage debut in July 1940 at the Open Air Theatre. Audley performed with the Old Vic company and the Royal Shakespeare Company many ...

as Cynthia * Ingrid Hafner as Giselle *

Peter Illing Peter Illing (4 March 1899 – 29 October 1966) was an Austrian-born British film and television actor. Selected TV series * '' The Four Just Men'' (1959) as Dr Mozek * '' Deadline Midnight'' (1961) as Captain Dnieprovsky * '' The Saint'' (1962 ...

as Lefevre *

George Coulouris George Alexander Coulouris (1 October 1903 – 25 April 1989) was an English film and stage actor. He was perhaps best known for his collaborations with Orson Welles, most notably ''Citizen Kane''. Early life Of Anglo-Greek origin, Coulouris ...

as Lacoste * Sheldon Lawrence as Pepi *

Paul Whitsun-Jones Paul Whitsun-Jones (25 April 1923 – 14 January 1974) was a Welsh character actor. Born in Newport in Monmouthshire, he was educated at Merchant Taylors' School in Northwood in Middlesex. He started his acting career in 1948 with two years a ...

as station master *

Keith Pyott Keith Pyott (9 March 1902 – 6 April 1968) was a British actor. He transferred from stage to screen and was a regular face in drama in the early days of television, appearing in '' Educated Evans'', ''The Prisoner'', '' Out of the Unknown'', ' ...

as estate agent *

Jack Melford John Kenneth George Melford Smith (5 September 1899 – 22 October 1972) was a British stage, film and television actor. Biography Melford was the younger brother of screenwriter and film director Austin Melford. On stage from the age of 12, M ...

as concierge *

Robert Rietty Robert Rietti, (born Lucio Herbert Rietti; sometimes Rietty, 8 February 1923 – 3 April 2015) was an English actor, translator, playwright, and dubbing director. With over 200 credits to his name, he had a highly prolific career in the Briti ...

as bank clerk * Mark Singleton as advertising clerk *

Ian Fleming Ian Lancaster Fleming (28 May 1908 – 12 August 1964) was a British writer, best known for his postwar ''James Bond'' series of spy novels. Fleming came from a wealthy family connected to the merchant bank Robert Fleming & Co., and his ...

as lawyer

Production

It was shot at

Elstree Studios Elstree Studios is a generic term which can refer to several current and demolished British film studios and television studios based in or around the town of Borehamwood and village of Elstree in Hertfordshire, England. Production studios ha ...

near

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

and on location in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

. The film's sets were designed by the

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

Paul Sheriff.

Reception

The Monthly Film Bulletin The ''Monthly Film Bulletin'' was a periodical of the British Film Institute published monthly from February 1934 until April 1991, when it merged with '' Sight & Sound''. It reviewed all films on release in the United Kingdom, including those wi ...

'' wrote: "Period, background and mood all fluctuate maddeningly ... and the unedifying narrative is developed along the most obvious lines imaginable. Landry's passion for Odette, especially as expressed by a weary George Sanders and an over-excited Corinne Calvet, seems a fantastic motive for the crimes themselves; and the somewhat nostalgic roster of victims (Patricia Roc, Jean Kent, Greta Gynt, etc.) strike one as nothing if not obliging. Paul Sherifi's art direction is suitably drab, but the craftsmanship otherwise is very poor." ''

Variety Variety may refer to: Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats * Variety (radio) * Variety show, in theater and television Films * ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont * ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...

'' wrote: "This is a dull, preposterous yarn, allegedly based on the notorious career of Henri Landru, the French mass-killer. It drags tremendously, is acted only adequately, is written in cliches and directed with no sense of drama. In short, it's a sad little flop which is unlikely to make the grade even as a dualer. Not even the marquee value of George Sanders and Corinne Calvel can hide the fact that by all standards this one is a turkey,"

Leslie Halliwell Robert James Leslie Halliwell (23 February 1929 – 21 January 1989) was a British film critic, encyclopaedist and television rights buyer for ITV, the British commercial network, and Channel 4. He is best known for his reference guides, '' Fi ...

said: "Another version of the story of Landru, alternating wildly between fantasy, farce and melodrama. Not a success in any of its moods."

References

External links

* {{W. Lee Wilder 1960 films 1960s thriller films British thriller films Films directed by W. Lee Wilder British serial killer films Cultural depictions of Henri Désiré Landru Films set in Paris Films shot in Paris Films shot at Associated British Studios Allied Artists films 1960s serial killer films 1960s English-language films 1960s British films Films scored by Albert Elms English-language crime films English-language thriller films