Casque d’Or ***** (1952, Simone Signoret, Serge Reggiani, Claude Dauphin) – Classic Movie Review 8,669

The 1952 Casque d’Or is a dazzling example of the postwar French film, perfectly capturing the nostalgic poetic-pessimistic mood of the time. It won one BAFTA Film Award for Best Foreign Actress (Simone Signoret).

Director Jacques Becker’s sensuous and beguiling 1952 Belle Époque tragedy film Casque d’Or [Golden Marie] is a doomed romantic drama set among criminal lowlifes. It tells the story of an ill-fated love affair between Marie (Simone Signoret), a beautiful woman famed for her ‘Golden Helmet’ of golden hair, and Georges (Serge Reggiani), a handsome young carpenter and ex-convict.

Casque d’Or is a dazzling example of the postwar French film, perfectly capturing the nostalgic poetic-pessimistic mood of the time. It won one BAFTA Film Award for Best Foreign Actress (Simone Signoret) and was nominated for Best Film from any Source.

Simone Signoret and Serge Reggiani star as ill-fated turn-of-the-last-century Paris underworld lovers, crooks’ moll Marie ‘Casque d’Or’ [‘Golden Helmet’] and innocent woodworker Georges Manda, who are having a final fling in the French countryside. The criminal Raymond (Raymond Bussières) introduces Marie to his friend Georges, but becomes jealous, while crime syndicate boss Félix Leca (Claude Dauphin) also has his eyes on Marie.

Casque d’Or is beautifully acted, photographed (in black and white by Robert Lefebvre) and directed, with a wonderful feeling for mood and its 1890s period. The Casque d’Or, or Golden Helmet, of the title is Signoret’s hair, and thus also her nickname.

Also in the cast are Claude Dauphin, Raymond Bussières, Gaston Modot, William Sabatier, Loleh Bellon, Paul Barge, Odette Barencey, Jacqueline Cantrelle, Dominique Davray, Daniel Mendaille, and Fernand Trignol.

Casque d’Or is shot at the Billancourt Studios in Paris on sets designed by art director Jean d’Eaubonne, and on location in Paris.

Casque d’Or [Golden Marie] is directed by Jacques Becker, runs 96 minutes, is made by Robert et Raymond Hakim, Spéva Films, and Paris Film Productions, is released by Paris Film (1952) (France), DisCina International (1952) (US) and Films de France (1952) (UK), is written by Jacques Becker (scenario and adaptation) and Jacques Companéez (scenario), is shot in black and white by Robert Lefebvre, is produced by Robert Hakim, Raymond Hakim and André Paulvé, is scored by Georges Van Parys, and is designed by Jean D’Eaubonne.

François Truffaut wrote: ‘You cannot fail to admire the ingenuity of the plot.’

The story is based on a love triangle between the prostitute Amélie Élie and the Apache gang leaders Manda and Leca, reported sensationally by the newspapers in 1902.

The cast are Simone Signoret as Marie ‘Casque d’Or’, Serge Reggiani as Georges Manda, Claude Dauphin as Félix Leca, Raymond Bussières as Raymond, William Sabatier as Roland Dupuis, Gaston Modot as Danard, Paul Barge as Police Inspector Juliani, Odette Barencey as the mother of Eugène, Loleh Bellon as Léonie Danard, Dominique Davray as Julie, Jacqueline Cantrelle, Paul Barge, Jacqueline Cantrelle, Daniel Mendaille, and Fernand Trignol.

© Derek Winnert 2019 Classic Movie Review 8,669

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