''The Strangers in the House'' (''Les Inconnus dans la maison'') is a 1942 French drama film by

Henri Decoin Henri Decoin (18 March 1890 – 4 July 1969) was a French film director and screenwriter, who directed more than 50 films between 1933 and 1964. He was also a swimmer who won the national title in 1911 and held the national record in the 500 ...

after the novel by the same name by

Georges Simenon Georges Joseph Christian Simenon (; 13 February 1903 – 4 September 1989) was a Belgian writer. He published nearly 500 novels and numerous short works, and was the creator of the fictional detective Jules Maigret. Early life and education ...

in 1940. It was shot at the

Billancourt Studios Billancourt Studios was a film studio in Paris which operated between 1922 and 1992. Located in Boulogne-Billancourt, it was one of the leading French studios. It was founded in the silent era by Henri Diamant-Berger. During the Second World War ...

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

Plot

Hector Loursat, attorney at law, lives with his daughter, Nicole, in a vast and shabby mansion in a provincial town. Their conversation with each other is limited, each somehow holding the other one responsible for the situation: Hector Loursat used to be one of the great attorneys until his wife left him for another man eighteen years ago. He has been drinking ever since, and given up living altogether, intoxicated every night. Hector did not care much about his daughter, who was brought up by Fine, the old woman servant in the house. One night, gunshots are heard upstairs in the house and Hector spots a shadow running away. Hector goes upstairs with Nicole and finds a dead man lying on an old bed in the attic. The police arrive and investigate. Hector soon finds out his daughter has a kind of secret life with a band of young idle bourgeois from the town; they have regular meetings in the attic. The police soon determine that the dead man is called Gros Louis, with a criminal record. Nicole and her friends are being interrogated by the police. But how is Gros Louis linked to the group? They find out the young group have set up amongst themselves a sort of pact, a theft competition which started by stealing a ballpoint or a lighter, and was amplified by boredom up to grand theft auto. Thus, they were turned delinquents by ennui. The police also finds out that one of them, Emile, is Nicole's boyfriend. Did he kill Gros Louis because of jealousy? Emile is suspected, and arrested. In jail, Emile asks Hector Loursat to be his attorney. Hector, scenting a miscarriage of justice, agrees to be his defense attorney. At the trial, the prosecution produces many bona fide witnesses, all bourgeois parents. Hector Loursat does not budge, has no questions to ask the witnesses, doesn't seem to be there altogether, to the point where people, and his daughter among them, wonder, with awe, if he is not still drinking. When finally Hector Loursat stands up and speaks, everyone is bewildered by his speech and strategy. First, he does not want to call any defense witnesses, but instead wants all the prosecution witnesses to come back to the stand, and accuses them all of being responsible for the boredom of the town, responsible for the boredom and nonsense and stupid behavior of their young ones, then singles out the fact that only one girl - his own daughter, Nicole - was in the group. By interrogating each of the young men, he shows that every one of them was in love with her, except, apparently, one, Luska. But Hector Loursat soon proves Luska was the one most in love with Nicole, that he found out Emile was Nicole's boyfriend, and that he killed Gros Louis to have Emile accused, moved aside and framed. At this point, Luska cracks up, confesses, and is arrested. Nicole falls into her father's arms.

Cast

Raimu Jules Auguste Muraire (18 December 1883 – 20 September 1946), whose stage name was Raimu, was a French actor. He is most famous for playing César in the 'Marseilles trilogy' ('' Marius'', '' Fanny'' and '' César''). Life and career Born in T ...

: Hector Loursat *

André Reybaz André Reybaz (born 29 October 1929 in Paris, France, died 7 April 1989 in Le Pré-Saint-Gervais, France) was a French actor. Reybaz had a long career spanning 40 years, which mostly consisted of numerous French television appearances. In 1950 he ...

as Émile Manu *

Tania Fédor Tania Fédor (3 November 1905 – 1 December 1985) was a French actress who played a number of leading roles during the 1930s and early 1940s in films such as ''Fantômas'' (1932).Hardy p.125 She later settled in Canada where she worked on Fren ...

as Marthe Dossin *

Héléna Manson Elena Eugenia Manson (18 August 1898 – 15 September 1994) was a French film actress. She appeared in more than 100 films between 1925 and 1989. Selected filmography * ''La vocation d'André Carel'' (1925) – L'amoureuse de Cardan * ''Th ...

as Mme Manu *

Gabrielle Fontan Gabrielle Fontan (16 April 1873 – 8 September 1959) was a French film actress. She appeared in more than 120 films between 1927 and 1959. Selected filmography * '' Misdeal'' (1928) * '' The Crime of Sylvestre Bonnard'' (1929) * '' The La ...

as Fine, the old maid *

Marcel Mouloudji Marcel André Mouloudji (16 September 1922 – 14 June 1994) was a French singer and actor who was born in Paris and died in Neuilly-sur-Seine. He sang songs written by Boris Vian and Jacques Prévert. Personal life Mouloudji was born to Algeria ...

as Amédée or Ephraïm Luska (Marcel Mouloudjy) *

Noël Roquevert Noël Roquevert (born Noël Louis Raymond Bénévent; 18 December 1892 – 6 November 1973) was a French stage and film actor. He appeared in more than 180 films between 1932 and 1972. Roquevert was born in Doué-la-Fontaine and was married ...

as commissaire Alfred Binet *

Jacques Grétillat Jacques Marie Gaëtan Grétillat (26 August 1885 – 19 December 1950) was a French actor and film director. Grétillat was born in Vitry-sur-Seine (Val-de-Marne), and died in Paris. Partial filmography * ''Hamlet'' (1908, Short) - Hamlet * ...

as court president *

Martine Carol Martine Carol (born Marie-Louise Jeanne Nicolle Mourer; 16 May 1920 – 6 February 1967) was a French film actress. Career Born Maryse Mourer (or Marie-Louise Jeanne Nicolle Mourer) in Saint-Mandé, Val-de-Marne, (France), she studied acting und ...

as a court spectator (uncredited) *

Jean Négroni Jean Négroni (4 December 1920 – 28 May 2005) was a French actor and theatre director particularly known for his voice work, such as his role as the narrator in ''La Jetée'' (1962). Biography Jean Négroni was educated in theater by Albert Cam ...

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, ...

* Marguerite Ducouret as Angèle, the cook * Lucien Coëdel as the bar tenant * Marc Doelnitz as Edmond Dossin *

Juliette Faber Juliette Faber (1919–2008) was a Luxembourg-born French stage and film actress.Goble p.428 Selected filmography * ''Happy Days'' (1941) * '' The Strangers in the House'' (1942) * ''Shop Girls of Paris'' (1943) * ''The Temptation of Barbizon'' ( ...

as Nicole Loursat *

Jacques Baumer Jacques Baumer (born Jacques Henri Nusbaumer; 12 April 1885 - 20 June 1951), was a French theatre director and comedian. Filmography * 1932: ' by Georges Lacombe * 1933: ''Étienne'' by Jean Tarride * 1936: ' by Max Glass and Marco de Gastyne ...

as the attorney Rogissart * Génia Vaury as Mme Laurence Rogissart *

Jean Tissier Jean Tissier (1896–1973) was a French stage, film and television actor.Goble p.440 A prolific actor, he had more than two hundred fifty appearances on screen during his career. He was married to the actress Georgette Tissier. Selected filmograp ...

as judge Ducup * Raymond Cordy as a huissier * Lucien Bryonne as a police officer * Fernand Flament as a police officer * Paul Barge as prison gard (uncredited) * Langlois as uncle Daillat (uncredited) * Henri Delivry * Jacques Denoël * Lise Donat * Franck Maurice * Bernard Noël * Claire Olivier * Max Révol * Pierre Ringel * Yvonne Scheffer * Simone Sylvestre * Charles Vissières *

Pierre Fresnay Pierre Fresnay (4 April 1897 – 9 January 1975) was a French stage and film actor. Biography Born Pierre Jules Louis Laudenbach, he was encouraged by his uncle, actor Claude Garry, to pursue a career in theater and film. He joined the company a ...

: narrator

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Strangers In The House Films based on Belgian novels Films based on works by Georges Simenon French black-and-white films Films with screenplays by Henri-Georges Clouzot 1942 films 1940s French-language films French drama films 1942 drama films Films directed by Henri Decoin Films shot at Billancourt Studios Continental Films films 1940s French films