Madame Claude caters for the luxury end of the prostitution racket,
offering a privileged service to men in high places in the political
and business spheres. She prides herself not only on the quality
of the merchandise she offers to satisfy every fantasy her clients care
to indulge in, but also on her discretion. Alas, Madame Claude's
employees are not quite so discrete and David, a young photographer,
puts her business in peril when he begins blackmailing her customers
with compromising photographs...
Script: André G. Brunelin,
Jacques Quoirez (novel)
Cinematographer: Robert Fraisse
Music: Serge Gainsbourg
Cast:Françoise Fabian (Madame Claude),
Dayle Haddon (Elizabeth),
Murray Head (David Evans),
Klaus Kinski (Alexander Zakis),
Vibeke Knudsen (Anne-Marie),
Maurice Ronet (Pierre),
Robert Webber (Howard),
Jean Gaven (Gustave Lucas),
André Falcon (Paul),
François Perrot (Lefevre),
Marc Michel (Hugo),
Roland Bertin (Soulier),
Ed Bishop (Smith),
Karl Held (Stanfield),
Ylva Setterborg (Jill),
Marie-Christine Deshayes (Florence),
Max Amyl (Le prince),
Sophie Barnett (Charlotte),
Jack Berard (Le chauffeur),
Valérie Bonnier (Une vendeuse)
Country: France
Language: French
Support: Color (Eastmancolor)
Runtime: 105 min
Aka:The French Woman
The best of American film noir
In the 1940s, the shadowy, skewed visual style of 1920s German expressionism was taken up by directors of American thrillers and psychological dramas, creating that distinctive film noir look.