Between DIABOLIQUE and VERTIGO: LES LOUVES (1957)

I find myself insistently drawn toward finding and watching more films based on the writings of Pierre Boileau and Thomas Narcejac. Last night's viewing was a remarkable yet seemingly forgotten (at least here in the US) thriller called LES LOUVES (“The She-Wolves,” 1957), which was given the cleverly resonant alternate title of DEMONIAC here in the States when United Motion Picture Organization released it in the summer-autumn of 1958. It was based on an early book in the authors' collaboration, which was translated into English as THE PRISONER - which J.F. Norris wrote about most persuasively for his blog Pretty Sinister Books.

It's set in occupied France during WWII and features Micheline Presle and Jeanne Moreau as two very different sisters, the daughters of a once prosperous family - the elder is very rigid and uptight and teaches piano, while the younger sister seems more amoral and empathetic and has a professed talent for communicating with the dead. But they aren't the primary characters: the film opens with two POWs who successfully escape and flee to the home address of a “godmother” pen pal whom one of them has arranged to marry, though they have never met. This POW doesn’t make it, so his partner (François Périer) assumes his identity to lie his way into the shelter of his dead friend's engagement. Add in a couple more complications that I won't spoil for you, and the story establishes a fantastic situation in which a bourgeoise household is occupied by one man and three women - each of them pretending to be someone or something they are not! It certainly keeps you guessing! 

Each of the performers is excellent: this is an early breakthrough role for Moreau, who makes the most of her spooky yet alluring character; Presle is a woman whose conservative comportment and poise becomes more worrisome as the film proceeds, and Robinson - a surprise curve ball reserved for the onset of Act II - makes a powerful impression in a role that threatens to unmask Périer. It is such a perfect follow-up to DIABOLIQUE - both so different and so much like it - that I can’t figure out why it’s not better known. 

Here's a review from the PITTSBURGH SUN-TELEGRAPH, September 7, 1958:

Click to enlarge.

Despite receiving reviews as enthusiastic as this, DEMONIAC has become forgotten as an American release and LES LOUVES is remembered only by an elite few. This needs to change. René Chateau holds the rights to LES LOUVES, while Gaumont controls MEURTRE EN 45 TOURS and MALÉFICES - they are all available on DVD from these links at Amazon.fr. In the meantime, as we pray for the refreshment of a much-needed domestic release, you can find an acceptable but not-so-hot copy of LES LOUVES on YouTube in French, and subtitles can be found elsewhere; it can also be found online with subs if you look around. Happy hunting!

(c) 2021 by Tim Lucas. All rights reserved.

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