''In Case of Adversity'' () is a 1958 French-Italian

crime film Crime film is a film belonging to the crime fiction genre. Films of this genre generally involve various aspects of crime and fiction. Stylistically, the genre may overlap and combine with many other genres, such as Drama (film and television), dr ...

directed by

Claude Autant-Lara Claude Autant-Lara (; 5 August 1901 – 5 February 2000) was a French film director, screenwriter, set designer and costume designer who worked in films for over 50 years. He made films characterised by bourgeois Realism (arts), realism, anti- ...

and starring

Jean Gabin Jean Gabin Alexis Moncorgé (born Jean-Alexis Moncorgé), known as Jean Gabin (; 17 May 190415 November 1976), was a French actor and singer. Considered a key figure in French cinema, he starred in several classic films, including '' Pépé le ...

Brigitte Bardot Brigitte Anne-Marie Bardot ( ; ; born 28 September 1934), often referred to by her initials B.B., is a French former actress, singer, and model as well as an animal rights activist. Famous for portraying characters with Hedonism, hedonistic life ...

and

Edwige Feuillère Edwige Feuillère (born Edwige Louise Caroline Cunatti; 29 October 1907 – 13 November 1998) was a French stage and film actress. Biography She was born Edwige Louise Caroline Cunatti to an Italian architect father and an Alsace-born moth ...

. It was released as ''Love Is My Profession'' in the United States. It tells the story of a married lawyer who rigs a trial to acquit a young female criminal he has become obsessed with, even to the point of imagining they might have a life together and start a family. The screenplay was written by Jean Aurenche and Pierre Bost after the novel ''In Case of Emergency'' by

Georges Simenon Georges Joseph Christian Simenon (; 12/13 February 1903 – 4 September 1989) was a Belgian writer who created the fictional detective Jules Maigret. One of the most prolific and successful authors of the 20th century, he published around 400 ...

. The film was released in France on 17 September 1958.

Plot

A petty criminal aged 22, the attractive Yvette is caught after robbing a watchmaker's shop with a toy pistol and felling his old wife. To defend her, she asks for André Gobillot, a leading member of the Paris bar. Telling him she has no money to pay him, she lifts her skirt to show him her goods. Accepting the deal, he arranges a false witness and after getting her acquitted instals her in a small hotel. His wife Viviane realises what is happening but hopes the improbable affair will not last. Knowing nothing about the girl, Gobillot has first to wean her off drink and drugs. He also doesn't know that she is still entertaining her current lover, an impoverished medical student called Mazetti. As Gobillot's obsession grows, his wife gets more alarmed and an enquiry is opened into his bribing the witness who lied. When Yvette tells him she is pregnant, he is overjoyed and books a holiday for the two of them. Before they leave, Yvette cannot resist one last visit to Mazetti's sordid room where, enraged with jealousy, he cuts her throat. It is not stated whether Gobillot's wife will take him back or if he will still be able to practise law.

Cast

as Maître André Gobillot *

as Yvette Maudet *

as Viviane Gobillot * Nicole Berger as Janine - la bonne d'Yvette * Madeleine Barbulée as Bordenave *

Gabrielle Fontan Gabrielle Fontan (16 April 1873 – 8 September 1959) was a French film actress. She appeared in more than 120 films between 1927 and 1959. Selected filmography * '' Misdeal'' (1928) * '' The Crime of Sylvestre Bonnard'' (1929) * '' The La ...

as Mme Langlois * Jacques Clancy as Duret - assistant de Gobillot * Annick Allières as Noémie - l'amie d'Yvette * Suzanne Grey La fleuriste * Edith Cérou as Himself (as Edith Cerou) * Hubert de Lapparent as L'avocat du bijoutier * Georges Seey as Le bijoutier (as Georges Scey) * Julien Bertheau as L'inspecteur *

Jacques Marin Jacques Marin (9 September 1919 – 10 January 2001) was a French actor on film and television. Marin's fluency in English and his instantly recognisable features made him a familiar face in some major American and British productions ('' Ch ...

as Le réceptionniste de l'hôtel Trianon * Claude Magnier as Gaston * Claire Nobis as Himself *

Franco Interlenghi Franco Interlenghi (29 October 1931 – 10 September 2015) was an Italian actor. He made his acting debut at 15 in Vittorio De Sica's 1946 Neorealist film '' Sciuscià''. He worked with great directors such as Alessandro Blasetti in '' Fabiola' ...

as Mazetti

Reception

"Something is obviously missing in the French film that has been made from Georges Simenon's weirdly off-beat novel", wrote

Bosley Crowther Francis Bosley Crowther Jr. (July 13, 1905 – March 7, 1981) was an American journalist, writer, and film critic for ''The New York Times'' for 27 years. His work helped shape the careers of many actors, directors and screenwriters, though some ...

of ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

''. He continued: "There are elements for shattering drama here. Yet, strangely, it doesn't develop. It all moves along in the groove of conventional nonconformance with the obvious social rules." Crowther called Autant-Lara "one of the best directors in France", but wrote that Bardot's performance "falls far short" and that "Jean Gabin misses, too".

François Truffaut François Roland Truffaut ( , ; ; 6 February 1932 – 21 October 1984) was a French filmmaker, actor, and critic. He is widely regarded as one of the founders of the French New Wave. He came under the tutelage of film critic Andre Bazin as a ...

called it one of Autant-Lara's best films and compared it to the plays of

Jean Anouilh Jean Marie Lucien Pierre Anouilh (; ; 23 June 1910 – 3 October 1987) was a French dramatist and screenwriter whose career spanned five decades. Though his work ranged from high drama to absurdist farce, Anouilh is best known for his 1944 play ...

, noting:

We come out of it with a mixture of disgust and admiration, a sense of satisfaction that is real enough but incomplete. It is 100 percent French, with all the virtues and vices that implies: an analysis that is at once subtle and narrow, a skill that is mixed with spitefulness, a spirit of unflinching observation directed at the sordid, and talented sleight-of hand that delivers a liberal message in the end.

He described how the film contrasts the scene where Bardot's character robs a backstreet watchmender's shop with the ceremonial on the same day of Queen

Elizabeth II Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 21 April 19268 September 2022) was Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 6 February 1952 until Death and state funeral of Elizabeth II, her death in 2022. ...

's state visit to Paris:

It's the girl who interests us and preoccupies us, not an anachronistic queen. It is precisely because Bardot is a girl who represents her time absolutely faithfully that she is more famous than any queen or princess … And it's why ''En Cas des Malheur'' is her best film since '' And God Created Woman'' — an anti-''
Sabrina Sabrina may refer to: People and fictional characters * Sabrina (given name), a feminine given name, including a list of persons and fictional characters with the name * Hafren, known in English as Sabrina, a British princess in Welsh mythology ...
'', anti-''
Roman Holiday ''Roman Holiday'' is a 1953 American romantic comedy film directed and produced by William Wyler. It stars Audrey Hepburn as a princess out to see Rome on her own and Gregory Peck as a reporter. Hepburn won an Academy Award for Best Actress f ...
'', anti-''
Anastasia Anastasia (from ) is a feminine given name of Greek and Slavic origin, derived from the Greek word (), meaning "resurrection". It is a popular name in Eastern Europe. Origin The name Anastasia originated during the Early Christianity, early d ...
'' movie that is truly republican.

Box office

The film was thirteenth most popular film of 1958 in France, recording admissions of 3,152,082. The film further cemented Brigitte Bardot's global success, the overseas market generated a profit of $2,500,000 for producer Raoul Lévy.

References

External links