''Prey for the Shadows'' () is a 1961 French drama film directed by

Alexandre Astruc Alexandre Astruc (; 13 July 1923 – 19 May 2016) was a French film critic and film director. Biography Before becoming a film director he was a journalist, novelist and film critic. His contribution to the auteur theory centers on his notion o ...

, starring

Annie Girardot Annie Suzanne Girardot (25 October 193128 February 2011) was a French actress. She often played strong-willed, independent, hard-working, and often lonely women, imbuing her characters with an earthiness and reality that endeared her to women und ...

Daniel Gélin Daniel Yves Alfred Gélin (19 May 1921 – 29 November 2002) was a French film and television actor. Early life Gélin was born in Angers, Maine-et-Loire, the son of Yvonne (née Le Méner) and Alfred Ernest Joseph Gélin. When he was ten, ...

and

Christian Marquand Christian Marquand (15 March 1927 – 22 November 2000) was a French actor, screenwriter and film director. Born in Marseille, he was born to a Spanish father and an Arab mother, and his sister was film director Nadine Trintignant. He was often cas ...

. It is also known as ''Shadow of Adultery''. The original screenplay was written by Astruc, Claude Brulé and

Françoise Sagan Françoise Sagan (born Françoise Delphine Quoirez; 21 June 1935 – 24 September 2004) was a French playwright, novelist, and screenwriter. Sagan was known for works with strong romantic themes involving wealthy and disillusioned bourgeois char ...

. The film was released on 14 April 1961. It had 620,504 admissions in France.

Plot

The movie centers on the story of a woman who runs an art gallery and leaves her husband for another man, whom she eventually also leaves but becomes dependent on.

Cast

as Anna Kraemmer *

as Bruno *

as Eric Kraemmer *

Michèle Girardon Michèle Girardon (9 August 1938 – 25 March 1975), sometimes credited as Michele Girardon, was a French actress. Career Born in Lyon, France, Girardon began acting as early as 1956, and had a small but noticeable role as a deaf-mute bea ...

as Anita * Michèle Gerbier as Claudine * as Luce * Christiane Barry as Madame Interlenghi * Corrado Guarducci as Edoardo Interlengh

Themes

described the main character as "a woman who feels in herself a very real need for freedom that is as much moral as social so that she sets about matching a man's work; but at the same time, because she is a woman, she feels the need to be passive, dominated, submissive."

Production

The film was produced by Les Films Marceau in collaboration with Cocinor - Comptoir Cinématographique du Nord. It was shot from 20 July to 31 August 1960.

References

External links

* 1961 drama films 1961 films Films directed by Alexandre Astruc French drama films 1960s French-language films 1960s French films {{1960s-France-film-stub