''Murders'' (French: ''Meurtres'') is a 1950 French

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

Richard Pottier Richard Pottier (6 June 1906, in Graz – 2 November 1994, in Le Plessis-Bouchard) was a film director in France. He was born in the Austro-Hungarian Empire as Ernst Deutsch. Selected filmography * ''If I Were Boss (1934 film), If I Were Boss'' ( ...

and starring

Fernandel Fernand Joseph Désiré Contandin (8 May 1903 – 26 February 1971), better known as Fernandel, was a French comic actor. Born in Marseille, France, to Désirée Bedouin and Denis Contandin, originating in Perosa Argentina, a town located in th ...

Mireille Perrey Mireille Perrey (1904–1991) was a French stage and film actress.Goble p.328 Perrey played some leading roles in the 1930s but gradually developed into a character actor, appearing in films such as the British comedy '' Hotel Sahara'' (1951). In ...

and

Jacques Varennes Jacques Varennes (6 September 1894 – 8 November 1958) was a French film actor who appeared in around seventy films during his career. He appeared in Maurice Tourneur's 1938 historical film '' The Patriot''.Waldman p.156 Selected filmography * ...

. Crisp p.208 The film is adapted from a series of five novels by Belgian writer

Charles Plisnier Charles Plisnier (13 December 1896 – 17 July 1952) was a Belgian writer from Wallonia. Biography Training as a lawyer at the Free University of Brussels from 1919, Plisnier became a Doctor of Law at the court of appeal of Brussels in 1 ...

, published between 1939 and 1941. It marked a rare dramatic role for the comedian Fernandel. It was shot at the

Neuilly Studios Neuilly-sur-Seine (; 'Neuilly-on-Seine'), also known simply as Neuilly, is an urban commune in the Hauts-de-Seine department just west of Paris in France. Immediately adjacent to the city, north of the Bois de Boulogne, the area is composed of ...

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

. The film's sets were designed by the

art director Art director is a title for a variety of similar job functions in theater, advertising, marketing, publishing, fashion, live-action and animated film and television, the Internet, and video games. It is the charge of a sole art director to supe ...

Paul-Louis Boutié. The title is also written as ''Murders''? (French: ''Meurtres?'').

Cast

as Noël Annequin *

as Blanche Annequin *

as Hervé Annequin * Colette Mareuil as Lola Annequin *

Jeanne Moreau Jeanne Moreau (; 23 January 1928 – 31 July 2017) was a French actress, singer, screenwriter, director, and socialite. She made her theatrical debut in 1947, and established herself as one of the leading actresses of the Comédie-Française. Mo ...

as Martine Annequin *

Philippe Nicaud Philippe Nicaud (27 June 1926 – 19 April 2009) was a French actor and singer, was married to Christine Carère from 1957 till her death in 2008. Nicaud appeared in the episode "Jet Trail" of the 1966 American television espionage drama serie ...

as José Annequin *

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 Le Juge Pierregot *

Line Noro Line Noro (22 February 1900 – 4 November 1985) was a French stage actor, stage and film actress.Hayward p.172 During the 1930s she played glamorous, often exotic, women in films such as ''Pépé le Moko''. Between 1945 and 1966 Noro was a membe ...

as Isabelle Annequin *

Germaine Kerjean Germaine Kerjean (1893–1975) was a French stage and film actress.Crisp p.306 She spent a decade with the Comédie-Française. In films she frequently played character role A character actor is an actor known for playing unusual, eccentric, ...

as Madame Frangier *

André Carnège André — sometimes transliterated as Andre — is the French and Portuguese form of the name Andrew and is now also used in the English-speaking world. It used in France, Quebec, Canada and other French-speaking countries, as well in Portugal, ...

as Le procureur *

Yvonne Hébert Yvonne Hébert (January 2, 1902 - January 15, 1990) was a French stage actress, stage and film actress. Crisp p.101 During the 1930s she was cast in several French version of Multiple-language version films. She generally played supporting roles ...

as Madame De Marcielle *

Fernand Sardou Fernand Sardou (18 September 1910 – 31 January 1976La Gloire de Pagnol
p. 235.) was a French singer an ...

as Le garagiste *

Marthe Marty Marthe may refer to: *Marthe (given name) a feminine given name * ''Marthe'' (novel), an 1876 novel by Joris-Karl Huysmans *''Marthe'', an 1877 play by Georges Ohnet * ''Marthe'' (film), a 1997 film by Gérard Jugnot People with the surname *Willi ...

as La Femme du garagiste *

Edmond Beauchamp Edmond Beauchamp (3 March 1900 – 3 June 1985), sometimes credited only as Beauchamp, was a French film and Broadway stage actor. He appeared in 70 films between 1928 and 1979. Partial filmography * '' Misdeal'' (1928) - Le gitan (uncredi ...

as Le professeur Le Gossec *

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 * '' Don't Shout It from the Rooftops'' (1943) * '' Jeannou'' (1 ...

as Un ami *

Jacques Berlioz Jacques Berlioz (9 December 1891, Paris – 21 December 1975) was a French zoologist and ornithologist, specializing in hummingbirds. He was a grand-nephew of composer Hector Berlioz (1803–1869). Berlioz was born in Paris, where the family hom ...

as Le directeur de l'asile *

Raymond Souplex Raymond Souplex (1 June 1901 – 22 November 1972) was a French actor and singer. He was in a long-term relationship with Jane Sourza, although they never married. Filmography 1901 births 1972 deaths Male actors from Paris Musicians fr ...

as Blaise Annequin *

Jacques Beauvais Jacques or Jacq are believed to originate from the Middle Ages in the historic northwest Brittany region in France, and have since spread around the world over the centuries. To date, there are over one hundred identified noble families related t ...

as Un maître d'hôtel *

Frédéric Mariotti Frédéric Mariotti (1 April 1883 – 22 February 1971) was a French stage and film actor whose career spanned more than four decades through the early silent film era into the early 1950s. Biography Frédéric Mariotti was born in Marseille an ...

as Un infirmier *

Laure Paillette Laure may refer to: * ''Laure'' (film), a 1976 Italian erotic film in the Emmanuelle universe * ''Doxocopa laure'', commonly known as the Laure, a butterfly People * Laura (given name) (French variant) * Laure (art model) (fl. 1859–1867), Frenc ...

as La domestique de Blaise et Blanche *

Jacqueline Pierreux Jacqueline Pierreux (15 January 1923 – 10 March 2005) was a French film and television actress.Philip Mosley p.105 From the early 1970s onwards she also enjoyed success as a producer. She was the wife of screenwriter Pierre Léaud and the mot ...

as Irène

References

Bibliography

* Bessy, Maurice & Chirat, Raymond. ''Histoire du cinéma français: encyclopédie des films, 1940–1950''. Pygmalion, 1986 * Crisp, Colin. ''French Cinema–A Critical Filmography: Volume 2, 1940–1958''. Indiana University Press, 2015. * Oscherwitz, Dayna & Higgins, MaryEllen . ''The A to Z of French Cinema''. Scarecrow Press, 2009. * Rège, Philippe. ''Encyclopedia of French Film Directors, Volume 1''. Scarecrow Press, 2009.

External links

* 1950 films French drama films 1950 drama films 1950s French-language films Films directed by Richard Pottier French black-and-white films 1950s French films French films based on novels Films scored by Raymond Legrand Films with screenplays by Henri Jeanson {{1950s-France-film-stub