''Chair de poule'' ( French for "goosebumps") is a 1963 French

crime film Crime films, in the broadest sense, is a film genre inspired by and analogous to the crime fiction literary genre. Films of this genre generally involve various aspects of crime and its detection. Stylistically, the genre may overlap and combine ...

directed by

Julien Duvivier Julien Duvivier (; 8 October 1896 – 29 October 1967) was a French film director and screenwriter. He was prominent in French cinema in the years 1930–1960. Amongst his most original films, chiefly notable are ''La Bandera (film), La Bandera'', ...

and starring

Robert Hossein Robert Hossein (30 December 1927 – 31 December 2020) was a French film actor, director, and writer. He directed the 1982 adaptation of ''Les Misérables'' and appeared in '' Vice and Virtue'', '' Le Casse'', '' Les Uns et les Autres'' and '' ...

Catherine Rouvel Catherine Rouvel (born Catherine Vitale; 31 August 1939 in Marseille) is an acclaimed French actress. Her career spans from 1959 in television to 2004. She starred in Jean Renoir's ''Le Déjeuner sur l'herbe'', Marcel Carné's ''Les Assassins ...

, Jean Sorel and

Georges Wilson Georges Wilson (16 October 1921 – 3 February 2010) was a French film and television actor. He was the father of French actor Lambert Wilson. Biography Wilson was born in Champigny-sur-Marne, Seine (now Val-de-Marne) as the illegitimate s ...

. The screenplay is based on the 1960 novel ''Come Easy, Go Easy'' by

James Hadley Chase James Hadley Chase (24 December 1906 – 6 February 1985) was an English writer. While his birth name was René Lodge Brabazon Raymond, he was well known by his various pseudonyms, including James Hadley Chase, James L. Docherty, Raymond ...

, which took several plot elements from the 1934 novel '' The Postman Always Rings Twice'' by James M Cain. The film was released in the United States as ''Highway Pickup''.

Plot

In Paris, Daniel and Paul work installing safes by day and robbing them by night. When a raid goes wrong and a man is killed, Daniel is shot down by the police and jailed. He escapes and, heading south, is given a job and a room by Thomas, who runs an isolated café and garage with his much younger wife Maria. She scorns the drifter her husband has hired until, by chance, she sees an old newspaper that reports his escape. She tells Daniel she will turn him in unless he opens the safe where Thomas keeps his cash. When Thomas is out one night, Daniel starts work; but Thomas returns early and after an argument Maria shoots him dead. Once Daniel has buried the body, the two try to run the place as before, except that they now share a bed. After Daniel rings Paris to tell Paul where he is, Paul joins them and Maria switches her attentions to him, thinking he will be easier to deal with if he opens the safe that Daniel refuses to touch again. Intruders then wound Daniel so that he is immobilised and, while Maria is out, Paul opens the safe. But she returns early and after an argument he shoots her dead. Leaving Daniel to his fate, he is making off with the money when he is caught at a police roadblock and shot dead.

Cast

as Daniel Boisset *

as Maria * Jean Sorel as Paul Genest *

as Thomas *

Lucien Raimbourg Lucien Raimbourg (1903–1973) was a French film, stage and television actor. He appeared in the original performance of Samuel Beckett's '' Waiting for Godot''.Blair p.421 Selected filmography * '' L'affaire est dans le sac'' (1932) - Le clien ...

as Roux *

Nicole Berger Nicole Berger (born Nicole Gouspeyre,''Le Vrai Nom des stars'' de Michel Bracquart - M.A. Editions - 1989 12 June 1934 – 13 April 1967) was a French actress. Biography Berger was born in Paris. She had a brief theatrical career, particularly ...

as Simone * Jacques Bertrand as Marc *

Jean-Jacques Delbo Jean-Jacques Delbo (10 January 1909 – 20 May 1996) was a French actor. He appeared in more than sixty films from 1936 to 1990. Filmography References External links * 1909 births 1996 deaths French male film actors {{F ...

as Joubert * Sophie Grimaldi as Starlet *

Armand Mestral Armand Mestral (born ''Armand Serge Zelikson''; 25 November 1917 - 17 September 2000) was a French actor and singer. He appeared in more than seventy films from 1945 to 1992. Filmography References External links * 1917 births 2000 d ...

as Corenne *

Jean Lefebvre Jean Marcel Lefebvre (3 October 1919Some sources indicate he was born in 1922. – 9 July 2004) was a French film actor. His erratic studies were interrupted by World War II. Taken prisoner and then requisitioned as a laborer, he escaped to joi ...

as Priest *

Robert Dalban Robert Dalban (born Gaston Barré; 19 July 1903, in Celles-sur-Belle, Deux-Sèvres – 3 April 1987, in Paris) was a French actor. His work included stage acting, roles in TV shows and dubbing American stars. Moreover, he was a fixture in Frenc ...

as Brigadier

External links

* *
''Chair de poule'' at “Cinema-francais“
(French) 1963 films 1963 crime films French black-and-white films Films based on works by James Hadley Chase Films set in Paris French crime films Films directed by Julien Duvivier 1960s French-language films Films scored by Georges Delerue Films based on British novels Films with screenplays by René Barjavel 1960s French films {{1960s-France-film-stub