Mata Hari, Agent H21 *** (1964, Jeanne Moreau, Jean-Louis Trintignant, Claude Rich, Frank Villard, Albert Rémy, Georges Riquier, Henri Garcin) – Classic Movie Review 3562

Co-writer/director Jean-Louis Richard’s 1964 French New Wave romantic thriller Mata Hari, Agent H21 stars his ex-wife Jeanne Moreau, who was born to play doomed lovers and tragic spies. So, although admittedly not Dutch or a pretend Javanese princess like the original exotic dancing spy, she is otherwise perfect as Margaretha Geertruida Zelle, aka Mata Hari, the German agent in Paris whom the Germans get to seduce an army officer, Captain François Lasalle (Jean-Louis Trintignant), while his secret papers are being stolen. Alas, however, the couple fall in love and so face mortal danger.

It is worthwhile viewing for the iconic Moreau performance, and some solid support, especially from Trintignant, Claude Rich as Julien the chauffeur, Henri Garcin as Mata Hari’s lover Gaston, Georges Riquier as Ludovic, Frank Villard as Colonel Emile Pelletier and Albert Rémy as Mata Hari’s father, Adam Zelle). But, as with the 1931 Greta Garbo version Mata Hari, this is another undistinguished movie version of the legend, with a star performance soaring above the material.

It was made for François Truffaut’s Les Films du Carosse, and it is a shame Truffaut, who helped on the screenplay, did not direct his old friend Moreau because we might have had a much better movie. Truffaut’s protégé and regular screen persona Jean-Pierre Léaud pops in uncredited as Absalon.

Also in the cast are Hella Petri, Marie Dubois, Nicole Desailly, Claude Mansard, Jean-Marie Drot, Georges Regnier, Pierre Tornade and Serge Rousseau.

Michel Kelber films strikingly in black and white, though it is a slight shame that it is not in colour, and Georges Delerue’s score is its usual asset to a movie. Costumes by Pierre Cardin.

Another famous movie version followed: Mata Hari (1985) with Sylvia Kristel.

Jean-Louis Richard was born on 17 May 1927 in Paris. He was an actor and writer, known for Truffaut’s films The Last Metro (1980), Fahrenheit 451 (1966) and Day for Night (1973). He was married to Jeanne Moreau (1949 – 1951), divorced, with one child, Jérôme Richard. He directed only three other films. He died on 3 June 2012 in Paris, aged 85.

Margaretha Geertruida MacLeod (née Zelle; 7 August 1876 – 15 October 1917), better known by her stage name Mata Hari, was a Dutch exotic dancer and courtesan who was convicted of being a spy for Germany during World War One, probably innocent and condemned only because the French Army needed a scapegoat.

Despite assertions that Mata Hari was partly of Javanese descent, she had no Asian ancestry and both of her parents were Dutch. She posed as a Javanese princess of priestly Hindu birth, pretending to have been immersed in the art of sacred Indian dance since childhood, but far from being a Javanese princess, Zelle was actually Dutch.

Jean-Louis Trintignant (11 December 1930 – 17 June 2022).

the cast are Jeanne Moreau as Mata Hari / Margaretha Geertruida Zelle, Jean-Louis Trintignant as Captain François Lasalle, Claude Rich as Julien the chauffeur, Henri Garcin as Mata Hari’s lover Gaston, Georges Riquier as Ludovic, Frank Villard as Colonel Emile Pelletier / Legrand, Albert Rémy as Mata Hari’s father Adam Zelle, Hella Petri as Baronne du Maine, Nicole Desailly as Mata Hari’s Maid Charlotte, Carla Marlier as Mata Hari’s Maid Ernestine, Jean-Marie Drot as German Spy Chief, Marcel Berbert as Detective Following Mata-Hari, Georges Géret as Soldier #2, Henri Coutet as Soldier, Charles Denner as Soldier #1, Max Desrau as Spectator at the Alcazar, Van Doude as Policeman at the Bank’s Entrance, Marie Dubois as Marie, the Young Girl, Yvette Etiévant as Nurse at the War Front, Édouard Francomme, Marcel Gassouk as Policeman, Charles Lavialle, Jean-Pierre Léaud as Absalon, Claude Mansard as Alcazar’s Manager, Serge Rousseau and Pierre Tornade.

© Derek Winnert 2016 Classic Movie Review 3562

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