''Beau Masque'' (Handsome Face) is a Franco-Italian film directed by Bernard Paul and released in 1972.
Synopsis
In a region in the east of France, Pierrette, (
Dominique Labourier
Dominique Labourier (born 29 April 1943) is a French actress. Born in Reims, France, she is best known outside France for starring as Julie in Jacques Rivette's film '' Celine and Julie Go Boating'' (''Céline et Julie vont en bateau'', 1974). ...
), a young mill worker devotes herself totally to her trade union activity even to the detriment of her private life. She has separated from her husband and left her child in the care of a relative. Two men enter into her life. She crosses first the path of an émigré Italian, nicknamed ''Beau Masque'', (
Luigi Diberti
Luigi Diberti (born 29 September 1939) is an Italian actor. He has appeared in more than 100 films and television shows since 1968. He starred in ''Magnificat'', which was entered into the 1993 Cannes Film Festival.
Selected filmography
* ''Met ...
), a truck driver. Then, at the time of a dance organised by the
French Communist Party
The French Communist Party (french: Parti communiste français, ''PCF'' ; ) is a political party in France which advocates the principles of communism. The PCF is a member of the Party of the European Left, and its MEPs sit in the European Unit ...
, she makes the acquaintance of Philippe Letourneau (
Jean-Claude Dauphin
Jean-Claude Dauphin, born Claude Legrand on March 16, 1948 in Boulogne-Billancourt, is a French actor.
Biography
He is the son of actor Claude Dauphin and actress Maria Mauban, the grand-son of the poet Maurice Étienne Legrand and nephew hos ...
), the factory director. He is the young 'son of the family', pushed into the business by his parents who are majority shareholders. Though attracted to Philippe, Pierrette takes no action, not wanting to compromise her union activity. It is with Beau Masque that she begins a relationship. But a wave of redundancies, that the director does not control, is going to throw the protagonists towards a final drama.
Cast
*
Luigi Diberti
Luigi Diberti (born 29 September 1939) is an Italian actor. He has appeared in more than 100 films and television shows since 1968. He starred in ''Magnificat'', which was entered into the 1993 Cannes Film Festival.
Selected filmography
* ''Met ...
as ''Beau Masque''
*
Dominique Labourier
Dominique Labourier (born 29 April 1943) is a French actress. Born in Reims, France, she is best known outside France for starring as Julie in Jacques Rivette's film '' Celine and Julie Go Boating'' (''Céline et Julie vont en bateau'', 1974). ...
as ''Pierrette''
*
Jean-Claude Dauphin
Jean-Claude Dauphin, born Claude Legrand on March 16, 1948 in Boulogne-Billancourt, is a French actor.
Biography
He is the son of actor Claude Dauphin and actress Maria Mauban, the grand-son of the poet Maurice Étienne Legrand and nephew hos ...
as ''Philippe''
*
Catherine Allégret
Catherine Allégret (born 16 April 1946) is a French actress. She is the daughter of Simone Signoret and Yves Allégret.Becker, Frawley (2004) ''And the Stars Spoke Back: A Dialogue Coach Remembers Hollywood Players of the Sixties in Paris'', Sca ...
as ''Marguerite''
*
Gaby Sylvia
Gaby Sylvia (March 24, 1920 – July 26, 1980) was an Italian actress who appeared in many French films and television series.Goble p.37
Partial filmography
* ''Le ruisseau'' (1938) - Denise
* '' Behind the Façade'' (1939) - Madeleine Martin
...
as ''Émilie''
*
Massimo Serato
Massimo Serato, born Giuseppe Segato, (31 May 1916 – 22 December 1989) was an Italian film actor with a career spanning over 40 years.
Serato was born in Oderzo, Veneto, Italy and started appearing in films in 1938. He played leading roles in ...
as ''Valério''
*
Jean Dasté
Jean Dasté, born Jean Georges Gustave Dasté, (18 September 1904 in Paris, France – 15 October 1994 in Saint-Priest-en-Jarez, Loire, France)Hélène Vallier as ''Louise''
*
Pierre Maguelon
Pierre Maguelon (3 September 1933 – 10 July 2010) was a French actor.
Selected filmography
* ''Tire-au-flanc 62'' (1960)
* '' The President'' (1961) - Un parlementaire (uncredited)
* ''Cartouche'' (1962) - Un complice de Cartouche (uncredited ...
Georges Rouquier
Georges Rouquier (23 June 1909 – 19 December 1989) was a French film director, screenwriter and actor. He worked principally on documentary films, and his best-known work is ''Farrebique'' (1947) a lyrical evocation of farming life in Avey ...
as ''Vizille''
Notes
According to
Françoise Arnoul
Françoise Arnoul (born Françoise Annette Marie Mathilde Gautsch; 3 June 1931 – 20 July 2021) was a French actress, who achieved popularity during the 1950s.
Early life
Born in Constantine, French Algeria, as the daughter of stage ac ...
, (writing in her memoirs ''Animal doué de bonheur'' ),
Jane Fonda
Jane Seymour Fonda (born December 21, 1937) is an American actress, activist, and former fashion model. Recognized as a film icon, Fonda is the recipient of various accolades including two Academy Awards, two British Academy Film Awards, sev ...
was the initial choice to play the role of Pierrette but Paramount-France grew less keen on the film the more they looked at it - they thought it too warm to communist ideology. Eventually Bernard Paul was told Fonda was not available. Location filming took place in
Villerupt
Villerupt (; lb, Weller) is a commune in the Meurthe-et-Moselle department in north-eastern France.
A festival takes place in the commune each year in October-November.
Population
Notable people from Villerupt
* Aurélie Filippetti
* Olivi ...
,
Meurthe-et-Moselle
Meurthe-et-Moselle () is a department in the Grand Est region of France, named after the rivers Meurthe and Moselle. It had a population of 733,760 in 2019.Ain
Ain (, ; frp, En) is a department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region in Eastern France. Named after the Ain river, it is bordered by the Saône and Rhône rivers. Ain is located on the country's eastern edge, on the Swiss border, where ...