''Before the Deluge'' (french: Avant le déluge) is a 1954 French-Italian

drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular super- ...

directed by

André Cayatte André Cayatte (3 February 1909, in Carcassonne – 6 February 1989, in Paris) was a French filmmaker, writer and lawyer, who became known for his films centering on themes of crime, justice, and moral responsibility. Cayatte began his directoral ...

. It was entered into the

1954 Cannes Film Festival The 7th Cannes Film Festival was held from 25 March to 9 April 1954. With Jean Cocteau as President of the Jury, the Grand Prix went to the '' Gate of Hell'' by Teinosuke Kinugasa. The festival opened with '' Le Grand Jeu'' by Robert Siodmak. Th ...

. It was shot at the

Billancourt Studios Billancourt Studios was a film studio in Paris which operated between 1922 and 1992. Located in Boulogne-Billancourt, it was one of the leading French studios. It was founded in the silent era by Henri Diamant-Berger. During the Second World War th ...

Paris Paris () is the capital and 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), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. Si ...

. The film's sets were designed by the

art director Art director is the title for a variety of similar job functions in theater, advertising, marketing, publishing, fashion, film and television, the Internet, and video games. It is the charge of a sole art director to supervise and unify the vis ...

Jacques Colombier.

Plot

Four boys and a girl want to get away from their parents and their country because they are afraid of an atomic war. They plan to use a boat to get to an idyllic island. When they realise their savings aren't sufficient they feel it was justified to obtain the required money by committing a crime.

Cast

Antoine Balpêtré Antoine Balpêtré (3 May 1898 – 28 March 1963) was a French stage and film actor. He appeared in more than 50 films between 1933 and 1963. Partial filmography * '' The Agony of the Eagles'' (1933) - Le commandant Thiéry * '' The House ...

as Monsieur Albert Dutoit (as Balpetre) * Paul Bisciglia as Jean-Jacques Noblet *

Bernard Blier Bernard Blier (11 January 1916 – 29 March 1989) was a French character actor. He was born in Buenos Aires, Argentina, where his father, a researcher at the Pasteur Institute, was posted at the time. Life and career His rotund features and ...

as Monsieur Marcel Noblet *

Jacques Castelot Jacques Castelot (born Jacques Marie Paul Éloi Storms) (11 July 1914 – 25 August 1989) was a French film actor. He appeared in more than 80 films between 1938 and 1982. His brother was the writer André Castelot and their father was the S ...

as Serge de Montesson *

Jacques Chabassol Ancient and noble French family names, Jacques, Jacq, or James are believed to originate from the Middle Ages in the historic northwest Brittany region in France, and have since spread around the world over the centuries. To date, there are ove ...

as Jean Arnaud * Clément Thierry as Philippe Boussard (as Clement-Thierry) *

Roger Coggio Roger Coggio (11 March 1934 – 22 October 2001) was a French actor, film director and screenwriter. He appeared in 40 films between 1954 and 1998. He was married to actress Pascale Audret. He died of cancer. Selected filmography * ''Befo ...

as Daniel Epstein *

Léonce Corne Léonce Charles Corne (18 March 1894 – 31 December 1977) was a French film actor. He appeared in 120 films between 1931 and 1974. Selected filmography * '' The Girl and the Boy'' (1931) * ''Luck'' (1931) * '' The Premature Father'' (1933 ...

as Commissaire Auvain (as Leonce Corne) * Jacques Fayet as Richard Dutoit *

Paul Frankeur Paul Frankeur (29 June 1905 - 27 October 1974) was a French actor who appeared in films by Jacques Tati ('' Jour de fête'') and Luis Buñuel (''The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie'' and '' The Phantom of Liberty''). He was sometimes credite ...

as Monsieur Boussard *

Isa Miranda Isa Miranda (born Ines Isabella Sampietro; 5 July 1909 – 8 July 1982) was an Italian actress with an international film career. Biography Miranda was born Ines Isabella Sampietro in Milan, the daughter of atreet car conductor in Mian. When ...

as Madame Françoise Boussard *

Carlo Ninchi Carlo Ninchi (31 May 1896 – 27 April 1974) was an Italian film actor. He appeared in more than 120 films between 1931 and 1963. He was born in Bologna, Emilia-Romagna, and died on 27 April 1974 in Milan, Lombardy, Italy. Selected filmogra ...

as the presiding judge *

Line Noro Line Noro (22 February 1900 – 4 November 1985) was a French stage and film actress.Hayward p.172 During the 1930s she played glamorous, often exotic, women in films such as '' Pépé le Moko''. Between 1945 and 1966 Noro was a member of the Co ...

as Madame Arnaud (as Line Noro de la Comédie Française) *

Marcel Pérès Marcel Pérès (born 15 July 1956, Oran, Algeria) is a French musicologist, composer, choral director and singer, and the founder of the early music group Ensemble Organum. He is an authority on Gregorian and pre-Gregorian chant. Pérès wa ...

as Inspecteur Mallingré (as Marcel Peres) *

Albert Rémy Albert Rémy (9 April 1921 – 26 January 1967) was a French actor best known for his supporting roles in François Truffaut's first two feature films. He played Antoine Doinel's father in ''The 400 Blows'' and Charlie Koller's (Charles Aznavou ...

as waiter at the café (as Albert Remy) *

Delia Scala Delia Scala (born Odette Bedogni; 25 September 1929 – 15 January 2004) was an Italian ballerina, actress and singer who played a leading role in the nascent ''commedia musicale''. Career Scala was born as Odette Bedogni in Bracciano, Lazio ...

as Josette *

André Valmy André Valmy (8 October 1919 – 18 November 2015) was a French film actor. He was born André Antoine Marius Dugenet in the 14th arrondissement of Paris. He appeared in more than 60 films between 1940 and 2001. He is also known in France to ...

as the second police inspecteur (as Andre Valmy) *

Julien Verdier Julien Verdier (13 January 1910 - 15 July 1999) was a French actor. He appeared in more than one hundred films from 1949 to 1994. Filmography References External links * 1910 births 1999 deaths French male film actors {{Fran ...

as the night watchman *

Marina Vlady Marina Vlady (born 10 May 1938) is a French actress. Biography Vlady was born in Clichy, Hauts-de-Seine to White Russian immigrant parents. Her father was an opera singer and her mother was a dancer. Her sisters, now all deceased, were the ac ...

as Liliane Noblet *

Maria Zanoli Maria Zanoli (26 October 1896 – 15 November 1977) was an Italian film actress. She appeared in 45 films between 1943 and 1961. Partial filmography * ''Loyalty of Love'' (1934) - La cameriera pettegola di casa Confalonieri * ''Incontri di ...

as Madame Dutoit (as Maria Emma Zanolli)

References

External links

* 1954 films 1954 drama films 1950s French-language films Italian drama films French black-and-white films Films directed by André Cayatte French drama films Films shot at Billancourt Studios Italian black-and-white films 1950s French films 1950s Italian films {{1950s-France-film-stub