Le Salaire du péché (1956)
Directed by Denys de La Patellière

Film Review

One-time assistant director from 1949 until 1954, Denys de la Patellière made his directing debut in 1955 with Les Aristocrates and ended his career in 1973 with Prêtres interdits.  His second film, Le Salaire du péché is a drama based on the novel Emily Will Know by the American crime writer Nancy Rutledge.  Presented as part of the official selection at the 6th Berlin Film Festival, this bourgeois drama distinguishes itself with its first rate cast and some stylish film noir touches.  Meticulously scripted, well-paced and imaginatively photographed by Henri Alekan, Le Salaire du péché is one of the more compelling and inspired of De la Patellière's early films.

Heading an impressive cast is the magnificent Danielle Darrieux, one of the last mythical actresses who is still with us and who represents all that is great in French cinema.  The lead male role went to Jean-Claude Pascal, an actor and popular singer who, in appearance and manner, is every inch the archetypal screen seducer; he was appreciated by the public as much as he was despised by the critics.  Towards the middle of his stellar career, Pascal is unfortunately lumbered here with a weak character which hardly does justice to his charisma.  Five years later, he will win the 1961 Eurovision song contest for Luxembourg with Nous les amoureux.

And then there is the incomparable Jeanne Moreau, already into her fifteenth film and still just a few years away from the ground-breaking roles that will make her an international star, in her films for Louis Malle (Les Amants) and François Truffaut (Jules et Jim).  Here, Moreau is supremely well-cast in the ambiguous role of the female temptress who is ultimately beaten at her own game.  The supporting cast includes Jean Debucourt, a fine actor of stage and screen who famously lent his voice to Jesus Christ in three of the Don Camillo films in the 1950s.

All in all, Le Salaire du péché is a respectable and sadly underestimated work, although it lacks the ambition and human dimension that Denys de la Patellière will bring to his later film: Les Grandes familles (1958), Un taxi pour Tobrouk (1960) (a superb war film), Le Tonnerre de Dieu (1965) and Le Voyage du père (1966).

Film Synopsis

Isabelle, the daughter of multi-millionaire Frank Lindstrom, chooses to marry an impoverished journalist, Jean de Charvin.  Lindstrom is convinced that Jean is after the money Isabelle will inherit after his death and so revises his will to ensure that his daughter will receive nothing.  When he learns of this, Jean is outraged and resolves to take his revenge on the weak old man.  Sure enough, on the day that Lindstrom changes his will in Isabelle's favour, Jean pays him a visit - not to thank him, but to kill him...