''Joy House'' (French title: ''Les Félins'' / UK title: ''The Love Cage'') is a 1964 French mystery– thriller film starring

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 ...

Alain Delon Alain Fabien Maurice Marcel Delon (; born 8 November 1935) is a French actor and filmmaker. He was one of Europe's most prominent actors and screen sex symbols in the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s. In 1985, he won the César Award for Best Actor for h ...

and Lola Albright. It is based on the 1954 novel of the same name by

Day Keene Gunard Hjertstedt (March 28, 1904 - January 9, 1969), better known by pen name Day Keene, was an American novelist, short story writer and radio and television scriptwriter. Keene wrote over 50 novels and was the head writer for radio soap operas ...

. The film was directed by

René Clément René Clément (; 18 March 1913 – 17 March 1996) was a French film director and screenwriter. Life and career Clément studied architecture at the École des Beaux-Arts where he developed an interest in filmmaking. In 1936, he directed hi ...

, his second for MGM.

Plot

In Monte Carlo, Marc, a handsome card sharp, escapes American gangsters who have been ordered to kill him by the boss of a New York gang because he had an affair with the boss's wife. Marc hides in a mission for the poor where Barbara, a wealthy widow, finds him and hires him as her chauffeur. At Barbara's chateau, Melinda, Barbara's niece, becomes attracted to him. Marc discovers that Barbara is hiding her lover, Vincent, in the secret rooms and passageways of the chateau. She and Vincent (a bank robber sought by the police for murdering Barbara's husband) plan to murder Marc so that Vincent may use his passport in escaping to South America. Marc and Barbara begin an affair but are discovered by Vincent, who then kills Barbara but is also killed by the American gangsters who mistake him for Marc. Marc and Melinda plan to dispose of the two bodies, but when Melinda learns that Marc is planning to leave without her, she tricks the police into believing that Marc is guilty and forces him to hide in the chateau's secret rooms. He is her prisoner, just as Vincent had been her aunt's.

Cast

as Melinda *

as Marc * Lola Albright as Barbara * Sorrell Booke as Harry *

Carl Studer Carl may refer to: *Carl, Georgia, city in USA *Carl, West Virginia, an unincorporated community * Carl (name), includes info about the name, variations of the name, and a list of people with the name *Carl², a TV series * "Carl", an episode of te ...

as Loftus * André Oumansky as Vincent * Arthur Howard as Father Nielson * Del Negro as Mick

Production

The film was based on a

novel published in 1954. '' The New York Times'' called the book "more conventional than usual" but said the story was "... well constructed and sharply twisted in the James M. Cain manner." Film rights were bought by MGM, who signed

to direct; he had previously made '' The Day and the Hour'' for MGM, which, as with ''Joy House'', featured both American and French actors. MGM signed Alain Delon to a five-picture deal following the studio's successful collaboration with him on 1963's '' Any Number Can Win''. In March 1963, it was that announced Natalie Wood would appear opposite Delon. However, Wood soon dropped out and was replaced by Jane Fonda. Filming started in August 1963. The film was partly shot in the historic

Villa Torre Clementina The Villa Torre Clementina is a historic mansion in Roquebrune-Cap-Martin, France. It was built in 1904 for author Ernesta Stern. It was designed by architect Lucien Hesse, and the interiors were designed by painter Raffaële Maïnella. It was use ...

. It was Jane Fonda's first movie in France. Of the shoot, she said, "there was chaos, rain and script changes, I fought sixty battles and won them all." She shot her part speaking English and was dubbed into French. She later recalled that Clément made the film without a script:

I didn't speak very good French then, and I never understood much of what was going on. The only people who really dug that movie, for some reason, were junkies. They used to come up to me and give me a big wink. But I'm awfully glad I did it because it got me into France and I met
ater husband Roger Ater (Hebrew אֲתַר) is an Old Testament male name. #A descendant of Hezekiah, who returned from Babylon ; #An Israelite, who subscribed to Nehemiah’s covenant #A porter ; {{bibleverse, , Nehemiah, 7:45 Set index articles on Hebrew Bible ...
Vadim Vadim ( Cyrillic: Вадим) is a Russian, Ukrainian, Romanian, Slovene masculine given name derived either from the Persian ''badian'' (anise or aniseed), or from the Ruthenian word ''volod'' (russian: волод), meaning ''to rule'' or ''vadit ...
.

Fonda would marry Vadim in 1965 and live in France for several years.

Reception

The '' Los Angeles Times'' called the film "an oddball thriller."

References

External links

* * * {{René Clément 1964 films American black-and-white films Films directed by René Clément French black-and-white films English-language French films 1960s French-language films Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer films Films based on American novels Films scored by Lalo Schifrin Films set on the French Riviera 1960s English-language films 1960s multilingual films French multilingual films