Landru (film) - Misplaced Pages

1963 French film

Landru

Directed by	Claude Chabrol
Written by	Françoise Sagan
Produced by	Georges de Beauregard Carlo Ponti
Starring	Charles Denner Michèle Morgan Danielle Darrieux Hildegard Knef
Cinematography	Jean Rabier
Edited by	Jacques Gaillard
Music by	Pierre Jansen
Production companies	Compagnia Cinematografica Champion Rome Paris Films
Distributed by	Lux Compagnie Cinématographique de France
Release date	25 January 1963 (1963-01-25)
Running time	119 minutes
Countries	France Italy
Language	French

Landru (US title: Bluebeard) is a 1963 French-Italian crime drama film directed by Claude Chabrol. The screenplay was written by Françoise Sagan. The film stars Charles Denner, Michèle Morgan, Danielle Darrieux and Hildegard Knef.

It was based on the story of French serial killer Henri Désiré Landru, who murdered and dismembered more than 10 women during World War I.

Plot

During World War I, the seemingly respectable middle-aged man Henri Landru has devised an ingenious means of obtaining money to supplement his dwindling income. Adopting various assumed names, he lures middle-class women to his villa at Gambais, just outside Paris. There he kills them and burns their bodies. He then helps himself to his victims’ bank accounts, so that he can keep his wife, his mistress and his four children in the manner to which they have grown accustomed.

Having murdered ten women and one boy, Landru is finally captured and placed before a court of law. Eloquent in his protestations of innocence, he is confident that no jury will condemn a man of such intellect and breeding.

Cast

Charles Denner - Henri Désiré Landru
Danielle Darrieux - Berthe Héon
Michèle Morgan - Celestine Buisson
Juliette Mayniel - Anna Collomb
Stéphane Audran - Fernande Segret
Mary Marquet - Mme. Guillin
Pierre Vernier as a magistrate
Henri Attal
Serge Bento - Maurice Landru
André Fouché - Doctor Paul
Sacha Briquet - Assistant prosecutor
Robert Burnier - Presiding judge
Mario David - Prosecutor
Françoise Lugagne - Mme. Landru
Claude Mansard - Defense Attorney
Jean-Louis Maury - Commissioner Belin
Jean-Pierre Melville - Georges Mandel
Hildegard Knef - Madame Ixe
Denise Provence - Mme. Laporte
Raymond Queneau - Georges Clemenceau
Catherine Rouvel - Andrée Babelay
Dominique Zardi - Gendarme

References

Wilkins, Budd. "Two by Claude Chabrol on Kino Lorber Blu-ray: Bluebeard and Blue Panther". Slant. Retrieved 20 November 2023.
Sarris, Andrew (18 April 1963). "Films". The Village Voice. Retrieved 20 November 2023.

External links

Landru at Films de France
Landru at IMDb
Landru at AllMovie

v t e Films directed by Claude Chabrol
Le Beau Serge (1958) Les Cousins (1959) Web of Passion (1959) Les Bonnes Femmes (1960) Wise Guys (1961) The Third Lover (1962) Landru (1963) Ophélia (1963) Code Name: Tiger (1964) Marie-Chantal vs. Doctor Kha (1965) Six in Paris (segment "La Muette") (1965) Our Agent Tiger (1965) Line of Demarcation (1966) The Champagne Murders (1967) The Road to Corinth (1967) Les Biches (1968) The Unfaithful Wife (1969) This Man Must Die (1969) Le Boucher (1970) The Breach (1970) Just Before Nightfall (1971) Ten Days' Wonder (1971) Dr. Popaul (1972) Wedding in Blood (1973) Nada (1974) Pleasure Party (1975) Innocents with Dirty Hands (1975) Death Rite (1976) The Twist (1976) Alice or the Last Escapade (1977) Blood Relatives (1978) Violette Nozière (1978) The Horse of Pride (1980) The Hatter's Ghost (1982) The Blood of Others (1984) Cop au Vin (1985) Inspecteur Lavardin (1986) Masks (1987) The Cry of the Owl (1987) Story of Women (1988) Quiet Days in Clichy (1990) Dr. M (1990) Madame Bovary (1991) Betty (1992) The Eye of Vichy (1993) Hell (1994) La Cérémonie (1995) The Swindle (1997) The Color of Lies (1999) Merci pour le Chocolat (2000) The Flower of Evil (2003) The Bridesmaid (2004) Comedy of Power (2006) A Girl Cut in Two (2007) Bellamy (2009)

Films directed by Claude Chabrol

Le Beau Serge (1958)
Les Cousins (1959)
Web of Passion (1959)
Les Bonnes Femmes (1960)
Wise Guys (1961)
The Third Lover (1962)
Landru (1963)
Ophélia (1963)
Code Name: Tiger (1964)
Marie-Chantal vs. Doctor Kha (1965)
Six in Paris (segment "La Muette") (1965)
Our Agent Tiger (1965)
Line of Demarcation (1966)
The Champagne Murders (1967)
The Road to Corinth (1967)
Les Biches (1968)
The Unfaithful Wife (1969)
This Man Must Die (1969)
Le Boucher (1970)
The Breach (1970)
Just Before Nightfall (1971)
Ten Days' Wonder (1971)
Dr. Popaul (1972)
Wedding in Blood (1973)
Nada (1974)
Pleasure Party (1975)
Innocents with Dirty Hands (1975)
Death Rite (1976)
The Twist (1976)
Alice or the Last Escapade (1977)
Blood Relatives (1978)
Violette Nozière (1978)
The Horse of Pride (1980)
The Hatter's Ghost (1982)
The Blood of Others (1984)
Cop au Vin (1985)
Inspecteur Lavardin (1986)
Masks (1987)
The Cry of the Owl (1987)
Story of Women (1988)
Quiet Days in Clichy (1990)
Dr. M (1990)
Madame Bovary (1991)
Betty (1992)
The Eye of Vichy (1993)
Hell (1994)
La Cérémonie (1995)
The Swindle (1997)
The Color of Lies (1999)
Merci pour le Chocolat (2000)
The Flower of Evil (2003)
The Bridesmaid (2004)
Comedy of Power (2006)
A Girl Cut in Two (2007)
Bellamy (2009)

v t e Bluebeard (1697) by Charles Perrault
Film	Barbe-bleue (1901) Bluebeard (1944) Secret Beyond the Door... (1948) Bluebeard (1951) Landru (1963) Bluebeard (1972) Barbe Bleue (2009) Kékszakállú (2016)
Opera	Ariane et Barbe-bleue (Dukas 1907) Bluebeard's Castle (Bartók 1911) Barbe-bleue (Offenbach 1856) Ritter Blaubart (Emil Nikolaus von Reznicek 1920)
Ballet	Bluebeard (1896)
Related	Bluebeard (Vonnegut novel) Very Blue Beard (1979 film)

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