Les tricheurs (1958)

Director:

Marcel Carné

Writers:

Marcel Carné (screenplay)
Marcel Carné (adaptation) ...
(more)

Release Date:

10 October 1958 (France)

Genre:

Drama

Plot:

Bob Letellier, a good looking rich kid who studies science, makes the acquaintance of Alain, a cynical and immoral young man. The latter introduces him to the existentialist circles of Saint-Germain-des-Prés. Bob is invited to a party and becomes Clo's lover, a rich heiress.

Cast

Pascale Petit	...	Mic
Andréa Parisy	...	Clo
Jacques Charrier	...	Bob Letellier
Laurent Terzieff	...	Alain
Jean-Paul Belmondo	...	Lou (as J.P. Belmondo)
Dany Saval	...	La fiancée de Bernard
Alfonso Mathis	...	Peter
Pierre Brice	...	Bernard
Jacques Marin	...	Monsieur Félix
Dominique Page	...	Nicole
Jacques Chabassol
René Sartoris
Jacques Portet	...	Guy
Gabrielle Fontan	...	La logeuse de Mic
Michel Nastorg	...	Le père de Bob
Sandrine
Alan Scott	...	L'américain
Brigitte Barbier
Gisèle Gallois
Claire Olivier	...	L'amie de la logueuse
Andrée Servilanges		(as Andrée Servilange)
Gérard Darrieu	...	Le camionneur
Jacques Berger
Alain Janey		(as Alain Janet)
Arielle Coigney		(as Arielle Coignet)
Joël Schmitt
Denise Vernac	...	La mère de Mic
Roland Armontel	...	Le docteur (as Armontel)
Roland Lesaffre	...	Roger
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
France Asselin	...	(uncredited)
Michèle Bardollet	...	(uncredited)
Guy Bedos	...	(uncredited)
Anne-Marie Coffinet	...	(uncredited)
Jocelyne Darche	...	(uncredited)
Nicole Dubois	...	(uncredited)
Claude Giraud	...	Toni (uncredited)
Sergio Gobbi	...	(uncredited)
Michael Maazel	...	Le photographe de rue (uncredited)
Jacques Perrin	...	Le jeune qui monte sur la Vespa (uncredited)
Jean-François Poron	...	Gérard (uncredited)
Alain Saury	...	(uncredited)
Françoise Vatel	...	(uncredited)

Directed by
Marcel Carné

Writing credits
Marcel Carné		(screenplay)
Marcel Carné		(adaptation) &
Jacques Sigurd		(adaptation)
Charles Spaak		story (uncredited)

Produced by
Robert Dorfmann	....	producer

Cinematography by
Claude Renoir

Film Editing by
Albert Jurgenson

Art Direction by
Paul Bertrand

Costume Design by
Jacques Heim		(as Heim)
Mayo
Virginie

Production Management
Lucien Lippens	....	unit manager
Georges Vallon	....	production supervisor (as G. Valon)
Louis Wipf	....	production manager

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Serge Friedman	....	assistant director (as S. Friedman)
Paul Seban	....	assistant director (as P. Seban)

Sound Department
Antoine Archimbaud	....	sound (as A. Archimbaud)

Camera and Electrical Department
Walter Limot	....	still photographer (as W. Limot)

Editorial Department
G. Charbonneau	....	assistant editor

Production Companies

• Silver Films
• Cinétel
• Zebra Films

Distributors

• Continental Distributing (1961) (USA) (theatrical) (subtitled)
• Les Films Corona (1958) (France) (theatrical)
• Pony Video (198?) (Japan) (VHS)
• Video Beat (????) (USA) (DVD)
• Video Beat (????) (USA) (VHS)

Other Companies

• Christian Dior  costumes
• Poste Parisien  sound re-recording
• Éditions Barclay  music published by

Also Known As:

"Peccatori in blue jeans" - Italy
"The Cheaters" - USA (literal English title)
"Youthful Sinners" - UK
"Csalók" - Hungary (imdb display title)
"Die sich selbst betrügen" - West Germany
"Oi zavoliarides" - Greece (transliterated ISO-LATIN-1 title)
"Oszusci" - Poland (imdb display title)
"Storstadsungdom" - Sweden
"Suurkaupungin nuorisoa" - Finland

Runtime:

120 min

Country:

France | Italy

Language:

French

Color:

Black and White

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Finland:K-16 | Sweden:15 | West Germany:18 (nf)

Company:

Silver Films

Trivia:

Italian censorship visa #28271 delivered on 17 January 1959.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Oi apenanti (1981)

Soundtrack:

Second Line Jump

interesting adult view of 1950s disaffected French twenty-somethings

This late 50s French study of disaffected youth (in their early 20's, actually--"grown up", but not yet settled down into the adult world) probably missed the mark by a mile in terms of being an accurate depiction of 1958 French youth (don't virtually ALL youth films made by adults do this? The ones that don't--River's Edge comes to mind-- are rare indeed), but director-writer Marcel Carne, of Les Enfants du Paradis fame, is too accurate an observer of humanity to NOT provide an insightful view of the essence of these characters. In a sense, the details are not important--you could change the details and set this film today and it would work just as well--but the loneliness and insecurity and superficial passion and self-righteous anger of the characters is captured well. The young Pierre Brice and Jean-Paul Belmondo are in supporting roles, but leads Jacques Charrier, Laurent Terzieff, Pascale Petit, and Andrea Parisy play the roles with subtlety and depth. There is also a fine jazz score, which you can get on the CD JAZZ IN PARIS--JAZZ & CINEMA VOL. 2. Unlike some who have commented on the film, I don't really see director-writer Carne as sitting in judgment on these characters--he seems as though he is an objective observer to me. Of course, these middle-class characters may seem like people who are spoiled and have nothing to whine about to some working-class viewers of the film, and I think Carne is certainly aware of this. For this American viewer (I watched a dubbed, fairly literally I'd say, version of this titled THE CHEATERS), the film provides an interesting window into the France of the 1950s. It also is self-consciously poetic (the scene on the ledge, saving the cat, is but one example of this) and has intellectual aspirations in that charming way that only French films can get away with--I can imagine the heavy-handed, melodramatic, shallow way this kind of material would have been handled by an American studio production, and the sensationalistic, moralistic, suggestive way this kind of material would have been handled by American drive-in/exploitation filmmakers. I feel that Marcel Carne has captured the essence of that period between, say, high school graduation and when, by one's early 30s, people have largely settled into a routine, whatever that routine may be. Those willing to watch the film with an open mind and not fire away at the many easy targets it offers should find a serious and valuable study of people in their early twenties. And even if you don't want to do that, you can go in the other room while the film is playing and simply enjoy the fine soundtrack, with great 50s jazz and instrumental pop, including the wonderful original score by an American "Jazz at the Philharmonic" group including Coleman Hawkins, Dizzy Gillespie, Stan Getz (spelled "goetz" in the credits), Roy Eldridge, and Ray Brown.