Le Chevalier de la nuit (1954)
Directed by Robert Darène

Film Review

Le Chevalier de la nuit feels as if it belongs to the mid-1940s, amidst that brief flourishing of films fantastiques that includes Maurice Tourneur's La Main du diable (1943), Jean Cocteau's La Belle et la bête (1946) and Claude Autant-Lara's Sylvie et le fantôme (1946).  Coming in the mid-1950s, it feels weirdly anachronistic, even more so than René Clair's La Beauté du diable (1950), which it vaguely resembles.  Combining elements of Robert Louis Stevenson's Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde and the familiar Faust legend, screenwriter Jean Anouilh conceives an unsettling Gothic tale of split identity that might well have been a cinematic tour de force had it been placed into more capable hands than those of director Robert Darène.  This was Darène's first feature (previously he had made a documentary short entitled Saint Louis, ange de la paix), and judging by the results, fantasy clearly isn't his forte.  He would do far better with realistic dramas, such as his memorable Abbé Pierre biopic Les Chiffonniers d'Emmaüs (1955).

There is as much to dislike about this odd little fantasy piece as there is to like, and therein presumably lies the reason for its obscurity.  First and foremost, it is the film's eerie Gothic mood (unusual for a story that is supposedly set in Belle Époque Paris) that sets it apart.  Indeed, Le Chevalier de la nuit has far more in common with Hammer's Gothic horror films of the late 1950s than with any French film of this decade.  The first twenty minutes of the film is a classic Hammer intro, with an aristocratic couple unwisely venturing into the proverbial old dark house and coming face-to-face with a mysterious châtelain (Jean Servais at his most bloodcurdlingly sinister), who promptly invites them to supper and partake in a satanic pact.  As an opener, it can hardly be faulted.  Edgar Allan Poe could hardly have done better.

But then, having grabbed our attention, the film swiftly falls apart and ends up as a lazy ripoff of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde.  If only it had stuck to this, Le Chevalier de la nuit would still have made an enjoyable offering in the fantasy-horror genre, but - bizarrely - the film's authors felt the need to interrupt the narrative every few minutes with a needless series of balletic interludes.  The piece in question - Léonide Massine's ballet set to Hector Berlioz's La Symphonie fantastique - at least has some (vague) connection with the plot, but these repeated breaks from the narrative soon become tiresome.   If only these had been cut back, the film would have had far more coherence, instead of looking like someone had accidentally spliced together a horror film and footage of a ballet.  Darène's lack of skill as a filmmaker is apparent not only in these unnecessary arty digressions but in the pacing of the film overall.  The last half of the film feels painfully uneven, virtually ruined when the ballet takes over completely towards the end.

It's not all bad, though.  For one thing, comic genius Louis de Funès shows up and injects some welcome humour into the proceedings near the floundering midpoint.  (There is comedy elsewhere in the film, but most of it falls flat.)  The film's strongest suit is its intensely atmospheric photography, the work of the acclaimed cinematographer Roger Hubert, who contributed a similar aura of diabolical menace to Serge de Poligny's La Fiancée des ténèbres (1945), a far more successful entry in the fantasy genre.  There is also an excellent cast, with Jean-Claude Pascal making the most of an intriguing dual role, in the company of a stunning Renée Saint-Cyr.

With Pascal too often cast in bland romantic roles, it is a treat to see him playing two far more ambiguous characters in the same film, one a villain afflicted with a conscience, the other a saint who sets fire to people he doesn't like.  The fact that Pascal was himself leading a double life at the time (it would be many years yet before he felt able to talk openly about his homosexuality) lends an added poignancy to his portrayal.  The words of the song with which Jean-Claude Pascal won the 1961 Eurovision Song Contest might well have been inspired by this film.  Nous, les amoureux - il paraît que c'est l'enfer / Qui nous guette ou bien le fer et le feu...

© James Travers 2015

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Film Synopsis

In 1884, Bella Fontanges is the most famous ballet dancer in Paris, but professional success is no substitute for love.  She regrets that her lover, the nobleman Georges de Ségar, no longer shows her the tenderness that he used to when he was a young man.  One stormy evening, the couple take refuge in a solitary mansion and are greeted by its reclusive owner.  A strange but persuasive man, the latter gets Georges to agree to an operation that will remove the darker side of his persona and restore his youthful innocence.  Not long afterwards, there is a transformation in Georges's  behaviour, but it is not for the better.  Far from being kinder to Bella, he becomes even more abusive towards her and is maddened with jealousy when a younger man catches her eye.  Meanwhile, a mysterious arsonist is creating pandemonium in the streets of Paris, and the police soon become convinced that he and Georges are the same man...