Docteur Popaul [Scoundrel in White] [High Heels] ** (1972, Jean-Paul Belmondo, Mia Farrow, Laura Antonelli, Daniel Lecourtois) – Classic Movie Review 8762

Director Claude Chabrol’s 1972 black comedy Docteur Popaul [Scoundrel in White] [High Heels] stars Jean-Paul Belmondo as a medic called Dr Paul Simay, who marries the plain, handicapped Christine Dupont (Mia Farrow), takes over her father Professor Dupont (Daniel Lecourtois)’s clinic and quickly embarks on an affair with his attractive sister-in-law Martine Dupont (Laura Antonelli).

Chabrol’s dark, sometimes misogynistic farce begins with an appealing tang of nastiness but loses direction midway through.

Docteur Popaul is messy and unfocused, but Chabrol’s wit and the cracking performances from Farrow and Belmondo just about hold the attention. It is worth a look as a part-success and an all but forgotten film of the great French auteur.

The screenplay is by Paul Gégauff (adaptation) based on the novel Meurtre à Loisir by Hubert Monteilhet.

Also in the cast are Daniel Ivernel, Dominique Zardi, Henri Attal, Michel Peyrelon, Patrick Préjean, Maja Wodecka, Carlo Bartolotta and Marlène Appelt.

Docteur Popaul was a hit in France, but was not released in Britain until 1976 as Scoundrel in White, and not released in the US until 1981, as High Heels.

Docteur Popaul [Scoundrel in White] [High Heels] is directed by Claude Chabrol, runs 101 minutes, is made by Les Films de la Boétie, Cerito Films, Rizzoli Film, is released by Les Films de la Boétie (1972) (France) and Independent Artists (1981) (US), is written by Paul Gégauff, based on the novel Meurtre à Loisir by Hubert Monteilhet, is shot in Eastmancolor by Jean Rabier, is produced by Jean-Paul Belmondo and André Génovès, is scored by Pierre Jansen and designed by Guy Littaye.

© Derek Winnert 2019 Classic Movie Review 8762

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