FRIDAY, NOV 16, 2018MORE MOREAU

UNTIL THE LAST ONE / JUSQU'AU DERNIER  7:15

Jeanne Moreau's pre-Elevator to the Gallows career was rich with roles in French noir, a fact that's been conveniently swept under the rug for far too long. We continue to push against that with two more examples of her unique impact that was evident from the outset of her career.

Here we find her as one of the key attractions in a French circus act (that's right—French "carny noir") whose life is complicated when her ne'er-do-well hangdog boyfriend (Raymond Pellegrin, France's go-to guy for just such a role) gets "in dutch" with his mob pals and desperately needs a place to hide out. What better place than a circus? But jealousies within the carny world emerge; meanwhile, the mob boss (Paul Meurisse) is not far behind: sparks of all kinds are sure to fly...

(1957, 90min) Directed by Pierre Billon. Adaptation by Pierre Billon, Marcel Audiard, and André Duquesne from the novel by André Duquesne. Photographed by Pierre Petit. Music by Georges Van Parys. With Jeanne Moreau, Raymond Pellegrin, Paul Meurisse, Max Révol, Marcel Mouloudji, Howard Vernon, Lila Kedrova, Rita Cadillac, Mijanou Bardot.

THE SHE-WOLVES / LES LOUVES  9:15

There's more to the filmography of the celebrated French writing team Boilau-Narcejac than Les Diaboliques and Vertigo—and Les Louves is a truly spectacular rediscovery of an entirely different type of nail-biting tension that the great duo was capable of inflicting on its audience.

Here a tug of war between a man (François Perier) whose impersonation gives him access to a fortune and three women (Moreau, Micheline Presle, Madeleine Robinson) with a rooting interest in that same pile of dough makes for an exquisitely escalating set of shifting tensions. You will not be surprised to discover that Moreau is the sexy one, with the script giving her a line that fits both her and her character like a glove: "I've never been mistaken for anyone else."

(1957, 98min) Directed by Luis Saslavsky. Adaptation by Pierre Boileau, Thomas Narcejac and Luis Saslavsky from the novel by Boileau-Narcejac. Photographed by Robert Juillard. Music by Joseph Kosma. With François Perier, Micheline Presle, Jeanne Moreau, Madeleine Robinson, Marc Cassot, Pierre Mondy, Paul Faivre.

EARLY SHOW IN THE LITTLE ROXIE

THANATOS PALACE HOTEL / SURSIS POUR UN VIVANT  5:00

Our "festival within a festival" featuring the frenzied and ultimately tragic career of Henri Vidal (1919-1959) begins with this clever, macabre "Ten Little Indians" variation. A mysterious villa in the remote mountains is Vidal's destination, where those who've expressed a wish to end their lives are tended to by a strange "support staff" led by a menacing Lino Ventura!

Vidal meets the lovely Dawn Addams; they fall in love, and suddenly have something to live for—of course! And then the fun really begins...

(1958, 88min)  Directed by Victor Merenda. Screenplay by Frédèric Dard and André Maurois. Photography by Quinto Albicocco. Music by Carlo Innocenzi and Daniel White. With Henri Vidal, Dawn Addams, Lino Ventura, Howard Vernon, Loretta Masiero, Marco Guglielmi, Silvo Bagolini, John Kitzmiller.