Les Diaboliques (film)
- This article is about the 1954 film. For the 1996 version see Diabolique (1996 film).
| Les Diaboliques (Diabolique) | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Directed by | Henri-Georges Clouzot |
| Written by | Pierre Boileau Thomas Narcejac |
| Produced by | Henri-Georges Clouzot |
| Starring | Simone Signoret Véra Clouzot Paul Meurisse Charles Vanel |
| Music by | George Van Parys |
Release dates |  29 January, 1954 21 November, 1955 |
Running time | 107 min |
| Language | French |
Les Diaboliques (1954) is a black-and-white film directed by Henri-Georges Clouzot, starring Simone Signoret and Véra Clouzot. The title translates as 'The Devils'. It was called The Fiends when released in the UK, while the US release is entitled Diabolique. It is based on the novel Celle qui n'était plus (She Who Was No More) by Pierre Boileau and Thomas Narcejac.
The film created a sensation on its original release. It has often been likened to the films of Alfred Hitchcock in that it is still creepy even when one has seen it and knows the ending. The end credit contains an early example of an "anti-spoiler message", requesting the audience not to disclose the plot to others who have not seen the film.
The film gained additional press when only five years after its release, Véra Clouzot died of a heart attack at age 46, similar to the way her character in the film died.
Cast
- Simone Signoret
- Véra Clouzot
- Paul Meurisse
- Charles Vanel
- Jean Brochard
- Pierre Larquey
- Michel Serrault
- Thérèse Dorny
- Noël Roquevert
- Yves-Marie Maurin
- Georges Poujouly
- Georges Chamarat
- Jacques Varennes
- Robert Dalban
- Jean Lefebvre
Trivia
 | This article contains a list of miscellaneous information. (August 2007) |
- This film was #49 on Bravo's 100 Scariest Movie Moments.
- It was remade in 1996 with Sharon Stone and Isabelle Adjani in the lead roles.
- It was remade in 1974 as a made-for-TV film called "Reflections of Murder" with Tuesday Weld, Joan Hackett and Sam Waterston in the lead roles.
- Many sources say that Alfred Hitchcock missed out on purchasing the rights to the Boileau and Narcejac novel by just a few hours, Clouzot getting to the authors first. François Truffaut, in his book-length interview Hitchcock/Truffaut (1967), suggested that Boileau and Narcejac then wrote D'Entre des Morts specifically for Hitchcock, who adapted the latter book for Vertigo (1958). However, Narcejac later refuted Truffaut's statement.
- The film Hush... Hush, Sweet Charlotte, directed by Robert Aldrich, shares common themes with Les Diaboliques in that two people try to drive the third character mad by staging a man's (fake) death; in the Aldrich film, Joseph Cotten plays the paramour in cahoots with Olivia de Havilland, as both try to commit Bette Davis' character to a sanitarium.