''Quay of Blondes'' (French: ''Quai des blondes'') is a 1954 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

Paul Cadéac Paul Cadéac (1918–2004) was a French film producer active in the post-Second World War era. He also directed the 1954 crime film ''Quay of Blondes''.Kermabon p.461 He frequently collaborated with the director André Hunebelle. Selected filmog ...

and starring

Michel Auclair Michel Auclair (born Vladimir Vujović, sr-cyr, Владимир Вујовић; 14 September 1922 – 7 January 1988) was an actor of Serbian and French ancestry, known best for his roles in French cinema. Auclair was born to a Serbian fathe ...

Barbara Laage Barbara Laage (30 July 1920 – 21 May 1988) was a French film actress who flourished in the 1950s. After fleeing Paris with her family during the German occupation in World War II, Laage returned to the city after the war and commenced her acti ...

and

Madeleine Lebeau Marie Madeleine Berthe Lebeau (10 June 1923 – 1 May 2016) was a French film actress who also appeared in American films, most notably ''Casablanca''. Early life Lebeau married actor Marcel Dalio in 1939; it was his second marriage. They had ...

.Kermabon p.461 It was produced and distributed by

Pathé Pathé or Pathé Frères (, styled as PATHÉ!) is the name of various French people, French businesses that were founded and originally run by the Pathé Brothers of France starting in 1896. In the early 1900s, Pathé became the world's largest ...

and shot in

Gevacolor Gevacolor is a color motion picture process. It was introduced in 1947 by Gevaert in Belgium, and an affiliate of Agfacolor. The process and company flourished in the 1950s as it was suitable for on location shooting. Both the companies merged in ...

. 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 industry, film and television, the Internet, and video games. It is the charge of a sole art director to supervise and ...

Lucien Carré Lucien Carré (born 1904) was a French art director Capua p.127 active in the French cinema designing film sets from the late 1920s to the late 1950s. He worked frequently with the director André Hunebelle as well as Julien Duvivier and Anatol ...

Location shooting Location shooting is the shooting of a film or television production in a real-world setting rather than a sound stage or backlot. The location may be interior or exterior. The filming location may be the same in which the story is set (for exam ...

took place in

French Algeria French Algeria (french: Alger to 1839, then afterwards; unofficially , ar, الجزائر المستعمرة), also known as Colonial Algeria, was the period of French colonisation of Algeria. French rule in the region began in 1830 with the ...

and

Marseille Marseille ( , , ; also spelled in English as Marseilles; oc, Marselha ) is the prefecture of the French department of Bouches-du-Rhône and capital of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region. Situated in the camargue region of southern Franc ...

Synopsis

A former navy officer is tied up in a

smuggling Smuggling is the illegal transportation of objects, substances, information or people, such as out of a house or buildings, into a prison, or across an international border, in violation of applicable laws or other regulations. There are various ...

operation between

and

Tangier Tangier ( ; ; ar, طنجة, Ṭanja) is a city in northwestern Morocco. It is on the Moroccan coast at the western entrance to the Strait of Gibraltar, where the Mediterranean Sea meets the Atlantic Ocean off Cape Spartel. The town is the cap ...

concentrating particularly in lucrative American

cigarettes A cigarette is a narrow cylinder containing a combustible material, typically tobacco, that is rolled into thin paper for smoking. The cigarette is ignited at one end, causing it to smolder; the resulting smoke is orally inhaled via the oppo ...

. However his position is threatened by the arrival of a thuggish American gangster who wants to take over the whole market.

Cast

as Jacques Fenner *

as Barbara *

as Nelly *

Darío Moreno David Arugete (3 April 1921 – 1 December 1968), commonly known under his stage name Darío Moreno, was a Turkish-Jewish polyglot singer, an accomplished composer, lyricist, and guitarist. He attained fame and made a remarkable career centred ...

as Lucky *

John Kitzmiller John Kitzmiller (December 4, 1913 – February 23, 1965) was an American actor who worked in his native land, as well as Italy and the United Kingdom. Kitzmiller achieved his greatest fame as a popular and versatile actor in Europe, making an est ...

as Michel *

Henri Arius Henri Arius (1897–1968) was a French film and stage actor. Crisp p.176 A character actor he appeared in a large number of films in wartime and post-war France. Selected filmography * '' Jeannou'' (1943) * ''Rooster Heart'' (1946) * ''Inspector ...

as Le capitaine de 'L'Atlanta' *

Maurice Biraud Maurice Biraud (3 March 1922 – 24 December 1982) was a French film actor. He appeared in 90 films between 1951 and 1982. Biraud was born on 3 March 1922 in Paris. He married actress Françoise Soulié in 1956. He died on 24 December 1982 i ...

as Laurent *

Paul Bisciglia Paul Antoine Alphonse Bisciglia (30 July 1928 – 18 April 2010) was a French film actor. Career Throughout his acting career, Bisciglia appeared in more than one hundred feature films. He made his debut in the 1950 film ''Trois télégram ...

as Le chasseur de l'hôtel *

René Blancard René Blancard (12 March 1897 – 5 November 1965) was a French film actor. He appeared in 80 films between 1922 and 1965. Selected filmography * '' The Mysteries of Paris'' (1922) - Bras-Rouge * ''Montmartre'' (1925) - Frédéric Charanç ...

as Commissaire Brochant *

Georges Chamarat Georges Chamarat (30 March 1901 – 21 November 1982) was a French actor. He appeared in more than 100 films and television shows between 1929 and 1981. He starred in the film '' The Adventures of Arsène Lupin'', which was entered into the ...

as Maître Chanu * Paul Demange as Un client *

Jacques Dynam Jacques Dynam (30 December 1923 – 12 November 2004) was a French film actor. He appeared in more than 150 films between 1942 and 2004, among which the ''Fantomas'' saga. Selected filmography * ''La symphonie fantastique'' (1942) - (uncre ...

as Dominique *

Giani Esposito Giani Esposito (23 August 1930 – 1 January 1974) was a FrenchDeath certificate n° 7/1974 oGiani Esposito on French site Les Gens du Cinéma/ref> film actor and singer-songwriter. Esposito was born from the union of a French mother with an It ...

as Un tueur * Micheline Gary as La secrétaire *

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 ''Ve ...

as Chemise rose *

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 Marco

References

Bibliography

*Kermabon, Jacques. ''Pathé: premier empire du cinéma''. Centre Georges Pompidou, 1994.

External links

* 1954 films French crime films 1954 crime films 1950s French-language films Films set in Marseille Films set in Tangier Films shot in Algeria Pathé films Films with screenplays by Michel Audiard 1950s French films {{1950s-France-film-stub