Directed by:
Joseph H. LewisCinematography:
Burnett GuffeyComposer:
Hugo FriedhoferCast:
Steven Geray, Micheline Cheirel, Egon Brecher, Brother Theodore, Gregory Gaye, Jean Del Val, Emil Rameau, Alphonse Martell, Adrienne D'Ambricourt, Ann Codee (more)Plots(1)
This well-plotted and executed film noir suffered from its lack of star power, but has become something of a cult classic. Steven Geray stars as Henri Cassin, a French detective from the Paris Surete, who takes his first vacation in many years to St. Margot and the country inn of the Michaud family. There, he falls in love with the innkeeper's daughter Nanette (Micheline Cheirel), who is already engaged to a local farmer, Leon Archard (Paul Marion). Urged to pursue a romance with Cassin by her social-climbing mother, Nanette agrees to wed the lawman. Leon pledges that he will never stop pursuing Nanette, and when she runs off, Cassin realizes that his betrothed loves another. When Nanette is found strangled to death, Cassin believes that the obvious suspect is Leon, but soon he is also found murdered. His only clues are some handwriting and a footprint, so Cassin returns to Paris, where his investigative techniques put him on the trail of the killer. (official distributor synopsis)
(more)Cast
Steven Geray
Austria-Hungary
Best movies:
All About Eve (1950)
In a Lonely Place (1950)
Gilda (1946)
Micheline Cheirel
France
Best movies:
Hold Back the Dawn (1941)
Egon Brecher
Austria-Hungary
Brother Theodore
German Empire
Best movies:
The Last Unicorn (1982)
The Stranger (1946)
The 'Burbs (1989)
Gregory Gaye
Russia
Best movies:
Casablanca (1942)
Ninotchka (1939)
Test Pilot (1938)
Jean Del Val
France
Best movies:
Wait Until Dark (1967)
The Song of Bernadette (1943)
Action in the North Atlantic (1943)
Emil Rameau
German Empire
Best movies:
Gaslight (1944)
Arch of Triumph (1948)
The Great Sinner (1949)
Alphonse Martell
German Empire
Best movies:
The Barkleys of Broadway (1949)
Mr. Deeds Goes to Town (1936)
The Stratton Story (1949)
Adrienne D'Ambricourt
France
Best movies:
Casablanca (1942)
The Story of Vernon and Irene Castle (1939)
The Song of Bernadette (1943)
Ann Codee
Belgium
Best movies:
The Roaring Twenties (1939)
Detective Story (1951)
Jezebel (1938)
Louis Mercier
Algeria
Best movies:
Casablanca (1942)
The Story of Vernon and Irene Castle (1939)
The Song of Bernadette (1943)
Marcelle Corday
Belgium
Best movies:
Flesh and the Devil (1926)
The Scarlet Letter (1926)
Dead End (1937)
Eugene Borden
France
Best movies:
Casablanca (1942)
All About Eve (1950)
The Story of Vernon and Irene Castle (1939)
Paul Marion
USA
Best movies:
Arch of Triumph (1948)
To Have and Have Not (1944)
Born Yesterday (1950)