''Thérèse Raquin'' (also ''The Adultress'') is a 1953 French-Italian

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

Marcel Carné Marcel Albert Carné (; 18 August 1906 – 31 October 1996) was a French film director. A key figure in the poetic realism movement, Carné's best known films include ''Port of Shadows'' (1938), ''Le Jour Se Lève'' (1939), ''Les Visiteurs du Soi ...

and starring

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 ...

Raf Vallone Raffaele Vallone (17 February 1916 – 31 October 2002) was an Italian actor and footballer. One of the top male Italian stars of the 1950s and 1960s, he first became known for his association with the neorealist movement, and found success in ...

and

Jacques Duby Jacques Duby (7 May 1922 – 15 February 2012) was a French stage, film and television actor. He was born in Toulouse. Jacques Duby as narrator Some of his works include ''101 Dalmatians'' (1961), ''Pinocchio'' (1968), and ''The Jungle B ...

. The story is loosely based on the 1867 novel of the same title by

Émile Zola Émile Édouard Charles Antoine Zola (, ; ; 2 April 184029 September 1902) was a French novelist, journalist, playwright, the best-known practitioner of the literary school of Naturalism (literature), naturalism, and an important contributor to ...

but with the setting updated to 1953. 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 ...

and on location in

Lyon Lyon (Franco-Provençal: ''Liyon'') is a city in France. It is located at the confluence of the rivers Rhône and Saône, to the northwest of the French Alps, southeast of Paris, north of Marseille, southwest of Geneva, Switzerland, north ...

. 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 Bertrand. It was screened at the

14th Venice International Film Festival The 14th annual Venice International Film Festival was held from 20 August to 4 September 1953. The Golden Lion of Saint Mark was not awarded this year. The jury, having examined the films in competition and noting the considerable average high ...

where it won the

Silver Lion The Silver Lion (, also known as Silver Lion for Best Direction) is an annual award presented for best directing achievements in a feature film in the official competition section of the Venice Film Festival since 1998. The prize has been awar ...

Plot

Thérèse, an orphan, has been brought up by her widowed aunt in a dingy backstreet shop in Lyon and married to her sickly first cousin Camille. Into their stifling existence comes Laurent, a lively Italian truck driver. He is immediately struck by Thérèse, who succumbs to him but will not abandon her husband and aunt. Once aware of the relationship, Camille and his mother plot to get rid of Thérèse. Their plan is that Camille will take her to Paris and hand her over to another aunt, but Laurent climbs onto the train and, his temper overcoming him, pushes Camille out in the dark at full speed. He then slips out at the next stop and Thérèse maintains to the police that she was asleep in her compartment the whole time. The news of Camille's death gives his mother a stroke that leaves her speechless, cared for by Thérèse who warns Laurent to stay away and not attract police attention. However there was another man asleep in Thérèse's compartment on the train and, when he sees the newspaper reports, comes down to Lyon and asks for half a million francs to stay silent. Aware that Thérèse and Laurent might kill him rather than pay, he leaves a letter with the maid in his hotel, asking her to post it to the police if he does not return. The pair manage to find 400,000 francs, which he accepts and gives them a signed receipt but, on leaving, he is knocked over by a lorry and dies. The film ends as the maid takes his letter to the post.

Cast

as Thérèse Raquin *

as Laurent LeClaire *

as Camille Raquin * Sylvie as Madame Raquin *

Maria Pia Casilio Maria Pia Casilio (5 May 1935 – 10 April 2012) was an Italian film actress, best known for major roles in ''Umberto D.'' and ''An American in Rome''. Born in San Pio delle Camere, L'Aquila, Casilio was quite active between 1952 and 1960, ...

as Georgette, la bonne *

Marcel André Marcel André (2 January 1885 – 13 October 1974) was a French film actor.Goble p.87 Selected filmography * ''Si l'empereur savait ça'' (1930) - Albert (Master of the Horse) * ''Soyons gais'' (1930) - Townley * ''Le père célibataire'' (1931) ...

as Michaud *

Martial Rèbe Marcus Valerius Martialis (known in English as Martial ; March, between 38 and 41 AD – between 102 and 104 AD) was a Roman and Celtiberian poet born in Bilbilis, Hispania (modern Spain) best known for his twelve books of ''Epigrams'', publ ...

as Grivet *

Paul Frankeur Paul Frankeur (29 June 1905 – 27 October 1974) was a French actor who had a successful Hollywood career and appeared in films by Jacques Tati'','' such as ''Jour de fête'' and Luis Buñuel, including ''The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie'' ...

as Le contrôleur * Alain Terrane as Un camionneur * Bernard Véron as Le postier * Francette Vernillat as Françoise, la bossue * Lucien Hubert as Le chef de gare de Dijon *

Madeleine Barbulée Madeleine Barbulée (2 September 1910 – 1 January 2001) was a French film, stage and television actress.''French Cinema in the 1970s: The Echoes of May'' p.265 Selected filmography * ''Métier de fous'' (1948) * '' The Spice of Life'' (1948) - ...

as Madame Noblet, une cliente *

Nerio Bernardi Nerino "Nerio" Bernardi (23 July 1899 – 12 January 1971) was an Italian stage and film actor. He appeared in nearly 200 films between 1918 and 1970. Life and career Born in Bologna, Bernardi started his acting career in 1918 with a loc ...

as Le médecin *

Roland Lesaffre Roland Lesaffre (26 June 1927 – 3 February 2009) was a French film actor.Turk p.380 He appeared in many films directed by Marcel Carné. Selected filmography * ''La présidente'' (1938) * ''L'embuscade'' (1941) * '' La Marie du port'' (1950) - ...

as Riton, le matelot maître-chanteur

Reception

The Japanese filmmaker

Akira Kurosawa was a Japanese filmmaker who List of works by Akira Kurosawa, directed 30 feature films in a career spanning six decades. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest and most influential filmmakers in the History of film, history of cinema ...

cited ''Thérèse Raquin'' as one of his 100 favorite films.

References

External links

* 1953 films Films directed by Marcel Carné French thriller films 1950s French-language films Italian thriller films 1950s thriller films Films based on Thérèse Raquin Films about adultery in France French black-and-white films Italian black-and-white films Lux Film films Films shot in Lyon Films set in Lyon 1950s French films 1950s Italian films Films scored by Maurice Thiriet Films with screenplays by Charles Spaak French-language Italian films {{1950s-thriller-film-stub