''Woman of Antwerp'' or ''Dédée of Antwerp'' (French: ''Dédée d'Anvers'' ) is a 1948 French

crime In ordinary language, a crime is an unlawful act punishable by a State (polity), state or other authority. The term ''crime'' does not, in modern criminal law, have any simple and universally accepted definition,Farmer, Lindsay: "Crime, definiti ...

drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. The drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular ...

directed by

Yves Allégret Yves Allégret (13 October 1905 – 31 January 1987) was a French film director, often working in the film noir genre. He was born in Asnières-sur-Seine, Hauts-de-Seine and died in Paris. He was an assistant to film directors such as his brothe ...

and starring

Bernard Blier Bernard Blier (; 11 January 1916 – 29 March 1989) was a French character actor. Life and career Blier was born in Buenos Aires, Argentina, where his father, a researcher at the Pasteur Institute, was posted at the time. His rotund featu ...

Simone Signoret Simone Signoret (; born Simone Henriette Charlotte Kaminker; 25 March 1921 – 30 September 1985) was a French actress. She received various accolades, including an Academy Award, three BAFTA Awards, a César Award, a Primetime Emmy Award, and ...

Marcello Pagliero Marcello Pagliero (15 January 1907 – 18 October 1980) was an Italian film director, actor, and screenwriter. Pagliero was born in London and died in Paris. He is perhaps best known for his performance in the Roberto Rossellini film ''Rome, ...

and

Marcel Dalio Marcel Dalio (born Marcel Benoit Blauschild; 23 November 1899 in Paris – 18 November 1983) was a French movie actor. He had major roles in two films directed by Jean Renoir, '' La Grande Illusion'' (1937) and '' The Rules of the Game'' (1939) ...

. The film was released in English-speaking markets under the titles ''Dedee'' and ''Woman of Antwerp''.

Plot

Forced to leave France, Dédée and her bullying pimp Marco have reached Antwerp, where she is one of the girls in René's bar and Marco is the doorman, doing drug deals on the side. Taking a stroll by the docks in the early evening, Dédée meets Francesco, sympathetic Italian captain of a cargo ship, who knows René. When he comes later to the bar, he discusses some secret deal with René and then takes Dédée to a hotel for the night. The two have fallen for each other and he would like to take her away with him, but this would need the agreement of René and of Marco. René is happy to do a favour to Francesco, happy to free Dédée from the obnoxious Marco, who he throws out into the street, and says he is happy to drive Dédée to Francesco's ship once he has closed the bar for the night. While Francesco is waiting on the jetty for Dédée to appear, Marco shoots him dead, drops his gun, and disappears. When René and Dédée arrive to find the body, they comb the nightspots of the city in search of Marco, eventually catching him at the railway station. At gunpoint they take him to a lonely spot where René, after knocking him out, runs the car over him.

Cast

as Monsier René *

as Dédée *

as Francesco (as Marcel Pagliero) *

as Marco * Jane Marken as Germaine * Marcel Dieudonné as Le trafiquant * Mia Mendelson as Felice - la prostituée flamande * Marcelle Arnold as Magda - la prostituée au perroquet *

Claude Farell Claude Farell, real name Monika Burg, also known as Paulette Colar, Catherine Farell, Paulette Kolar and Paulette von Suchan (7 May 1918 – 17 March 2008) was an Austrian actress. Partial filmography *''Der Kleinstadtpoet'' (1940) - Zenzi ...

as La prostituée allemande (as Catherine Farrell) * Denise Clair as La patronne du "Kaffe Karel" * Gabriel Gobin as Paul * Jo Van Cottom as Le diamantaire (as J. Von Cottom) * Jane Marken as Germaine

References

External links

* 1948 films Films directed by Yves Allégret French black-and-white films French crime drama films 1948 crime drama films Film noir 1940s French films Films set in Antwerp {{1940s-France-film-stub