''The Man in the Raincoat'' () is a French-Italian comedy-

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

Julien Duvivier Julien Duvivier (; 8 October 1896 – 29 October 1967) was a French film director and screenwriter. He was prominent in French cinema in the years 1930–1960. Amongst his most original films, chiefly notable are ''La Bandera (film), La Bandera'', ...

, scripted by the director and

René Barjavel René Barjavel (24 January 1911 – 24 November 1985) was a French author, journalist and critic who may have been the first to think of the grandfather paradox in time travel. He was born in Nyons, a town in the Drôme department in southeas ...

, from the 1954 novel '' Tiger by the Tail'' by

James Hadley Chase James Hadley Chase (24 December 1906 – 6 February 1985) was an English writer. While his birth name was René Lodge Brabazon Raymond, he was well known by his various pseudonyms, including James Hadley Chase, James L. Docherty, Raymond ...

. It was released in 1957 and shown at the

7th Berlin International Film Festival The 7th annual Berlin International Film Festival was held from 21 June to 2 July 1957. The Golden Bear was awarded to '' 12 Angry Men'' directed by Sidney Lumet. The International Federation of Film Critics awarded FIPRESCI Award for the firs ...

in competition for the

Golden Bear The Golden Bear () is the highest prize awarded for the best film at the Berlin International Film Festival and is, along with the Palme d'Or and the Golden Lion, the most important international film festival award. The bear is the heraldic an ...

. It stars

Fernandel Fernand Joseph Désiré Contandin (8 May 1903 – 26 February 1971), better known as Fernandel, was a French comic actor. Born in Marseille, France, to Désirée Bedouin and Denis Contandin, originating in Perosa Argentina, a town located in th ...

, (with whom Duvivier had made two successful

Don Camillo Don Camillo () and Peppone () are the fictional protagonists of a series of works by the Italian writer and journalist Giovannino Guareschi set in what Guareschi refers to as the "small world" of rural Italy after World War II. Most of the Don Ca ...

films earlier in the 1950s), and

Bernard Blier Bernard Blier (; 11 January 1916 – 29 March 1989) was a French character actor. Life and career Blier was born in Buenos Aires, Argentina, where his father, a researcher at the Pasteur Institute, was posted at the time. His rotund featu ...

Plot

The wife of Albert Constantin goes to visit her uncle, who is sick. Albert, (

), a clarinet player with the orchestra of the

Théâtre du Châtelet The Théâtre du Châtelet () is a theatre and opera house, located in the place du Châtelet in the 1st arrondissement of Paris, France. One of two theatres (the other being the Théâtre de la Ville) built on the site of a ''châtelet'', a ...

finds himself alone for a week. Albert finds it hard to cope, being domestically inept, and his colleague in the orchestra, Émile, (Jean Rigaux), recommends he go to see Éva (

Judith Magre Judith Magre (born 20 November 1926) is a French actress, born in Montier-en-Der, Haute-Marne. Filmography References External links * {{DEFAULTSORT:Magre, Judith 1926 births Living people French film actresses French television ...

). He, himself, sees her from time to time. At first hesitant, Albert goes to see the woman. So much the worse for Albert. Éva is murdered, while he waits to see her in her living-room. Realising Éva is a prostitute he hurries away, only to read the next day of a murder and reports of a man running away, in a raincoat, from the scene of the crime. He soon finds himself dealing with a blackmailer, a neighbour of the murdered woman, Monsieur Raphaël (

), and professional killers. And so Albert is overtaken by a series of events that plunge him ever deeper into troubles.

Cast

as Albert Constantin, clarinetist *

as ''Monsieur Raphaël'' *

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 B ...

as ''Maurice Langlois'' *

Jean Rigaux Jean Rigaux (10 February 1909 – 10 December 1991) was a French songwriter and actor. Selected filmography * '' The Lost Woman'' (1942) * '' No Love Allowed'' (1942) * '' Madly in Love'' (1943) * '' Sins of Paris'' (1953) * '' Three Make a Pa ...

as ''Émile Blondeau'' *

Claude Sylvain Claude Sylvain (1930–2005) was a French actor and singer.Powrie p.257 After appearing in films of the 1950s, playing in a mixture of female lead and supporting roles, she switched to appear as a performer in cabaret Cabaret is a form of thea ...

as ''Florence'' *

as ''Éva'' *

John McGiver John Irwin McGiver (November 5, 1913 – September 9, 1975) was an American character actor who made more than a hundred appearances in television and motion pictures over a two-decade span from 1955 to 1975. The owl-faced, portly character ac ...

as ''O'Brien'' *Julien Bertheau as ''the director''

References

External links

* 1950s comedy thriller films 1957 films French black-and-white films Films based on British novels Films based on works by James Hadley Chase Films directed by Julien Duvivier Films with screenplays by René Barjavel 1950s French-language films French comedy thriller films Italian comedy thriller films 1957 comedy films Italian black-and-white films 1950s French films 1950s Italian films French-language comedy thriller films {{1950s-France-film-stub