''A Bomb for a Dictator'' or ''The Fanatics'' (French: ''Les fanatiques'') is a 1957 French

thriller film Thriller film, also known as suspense film or suspense thriller, is a broad film genre that evokes excitement and suspense in the audience. The suspense element found in most films' plots is particularly exploited by the filmmaker in this genre ...

directed by

Alex Joffé Alex Joffé (18 November 1918 – 18 August 1995) was a French film director and screenwriter, known for ''Les cracks'' (1968), ''Fortunat'' (1960) and ''La grosse caisse'' (1965). He was the father of the director Arthur Joffé, as well as Mar ...

and starring

Pierre Fresnay Pierre Fresnay (4 April 1897 – 9 January 1975) was a French stage and film actor. Biography Born Pierre Jules Louis Laudenbach, he was encouraged by his uncle, actor Claude Garry, to pursue a career in theater and film. He joined the company a ...

Michel Auclair Michel Auclair (born Vladimir Vujović, sr-cyr, Владимир Вујовић; 14 September 1922 – 7 January 1988) was an actor of Serbian and French ancestry, known best for his roles in French cinema. Auclair was born to a Serbian father ...

and

Tilda Thamar Tilda Thamar (born Matilde Sofía Margarita Abrecht; 7 December 1921 – 12 April 1989) was an Argentine actor. She was born in Entre Rios Province, Argentina, in 1921. She was married to Spanish portrait painter Alejo Vidal-Quadras and divorced ...

. Oscherwitz & Higgins p.158 It was shot at the Boulogne Studios in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...

and on location at

Nice Airport Nice ( , ; Niçard: , classical norm, or , nonstandard, ; it, Nizza ; lij, Nissa; grc, Νίκαια; la, Nicaea) is the prefecture of the Alpes-Maritimes department in France. The Nice agglomeration extends far beyond the administrative c ...

. The film's sets were designed by the art director Jacques Paris.

Synopsis

While a tyrannical

South American South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere at the northern tip of the continent. It can also be described as the southe ...

dictator A dictator is a political leader who possesses absolute power. A dictatorship is a state ruled by one dictator or by a small clique. The word originated as the title of a Roman dictator elected by the Roman Senate to rule the republic in tim ...

is visiting

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a subcontinent of Eurasia and it is located entirel ...

a group of revolutionaries plan to assassinate his private plane. However, when it turns out he has changed his plans and will be flying back on a commercial flight they have to do decide whether to carry on with their plans even though it will lead to the deaths of the other passengers, or let him return to seek revenge on the plotters.

Cast

as Luis Vargas *

as Franco Géron * Françoise Fabian as Mme. Lambert *

Grégoire Aslan Grégoire Aslan (born Krikor Kaloust Aslanian; 28 March 1908 – 8 January 1982) was a Swiss-Armenian actor and musician. Early life Krikor Kaloust Aslanian ( hy, Գրիգոր Գալուստի Ասլանյան) was born in Switzerland or in Co ...

as Général Ribera *

as Juana Ribera * Betty Schneider as Lili * Pascal Alexandre as François *

José Lewgoy José Lewgoy (16 November 1920 – 10 February 2003) was a Brazilian actor. He is recognizable to many art-house cinema fans for his role as Don Aquilino in Werner Herzog's 1982 film ''Fitzcarraldo''. Biography He was born in Veranópolis, ...

as Ramirez * Pierre Tabard as Savelli *

René Hell René Hell (1891–1965) was a French actor. Selected filmography * '' Special Mission'' (1946) * ''Dilemma of Two Angels'' (1948) * '' After Love'' (1948) * '' Five Red Tulips'' (1949) * '' The Red Angel'' (1949) * '' The Unexpected Voyager'' ...

as Coti, le bagagiste de l'aéroport * Grégory Chmara as Le passager qui pose une question

References

Bibliography

* Dalle Vacche, Angela . ''André Bazin's Film Theory: Art, Science, Religion''. Oxford University Press, 2020. * Katz, Ephraim. ''The Film Encyclopedia''. Crowell, 1979. * Oscherwitz, Dayna & Higgins, MaryEllen. ''The A to Z of French Cinema''. Scarecrow Press, 2009.

External links

* 1957 films French thriller films 1950s thriller films 1950s French-language films Films directed by Alex Joffé Films shot in Nice Pathé films Films shot at Boulogne Studios 1950s French films {{1950s-France-film-stub