Directed by Christian-Jaque. Written by Charles Spaak and based on the novel by Pierre Véry.
Cinematography was by Armand Thirard (The Wages of Fear (1953), Diabolique (1955))Music was by Henri Verdun.
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| Harry Baur as Gaspard Cornusse |
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| Robert Le Vigan as Léon Villard the schoolmaster |
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| Renée Faure as Catherine |
The film stars Harry Baur as Gaspard Cornusse (who was tortured by the Gestapo dying soon after as a result on April 8, 1943 in Paris, France), Raymond Rouleau as Roland de La Faille, Renée Faure as Catherine Cornusse, Robert Le Vigan (Le quai des brumes aka Port of Shadows (1938) as Léon Villard, the schoolmaster.
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| Raymond Rouleau as Roland de La Faille |
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| Jean Brochard as Ricomet |
With Fernand Ledoux (La Bête Humaine (1938)) as Noirgoutte, the mayor, Jean Brochard (I Vitelloni (1953), Diabolique (1955)) as Ricomet, the pharmacist, Héléna Manson as Marie Coquillot, Arthur Devère as Tairraz, the watchmaker, Marcel Pérès as Rambert, Georges Chamarat as Constable Gercourt, Bernard Blier (Le Jour Se Leve (1939), Quai des Orfèvres (1947), Dédée d'Anvers (1948), Série noire (1979) as police sergeant, Jean Sinoël as Noblet, Marie-Hélène Dasté as Mother Michel, Jean Parédès as Kappel, the beadle.
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| Bernard Blier as the police sergeant and Fernand Ledoux as Noirgoutte the mayor |
The Story
Yuletide. Snowbound. Argentière, Chamonix-Mont-Blanc, Haute-Savoie, France. December 22nd. Last day of school before Christmas.
The kid are squirming with barely in check excitement. Schoolmaster Léon Villard. He's one of the ones that everyone liked. He made his class fun and interesting. Like a Mister Chips type of teacher. The school bell ring the kids begin to gather their books but Léon holds them back, a kid tells him that the bell has rung. He calls them dunces and duncettes.
It's a half tease. He tells them to meet him for his little celebration during Christmas Eve Mass and everyone will get an orange and a candy. He tells then its complements of the Society of Freethinkers.
The town, a mountain top hamlett of paysans, (what Italians and Hispanics call paisanos) is where everyone knows everyone and are probably, all distantly related. The town probably owes its existence to the Baronial manor of Roland de La Faille it's got a date of 1361 over an imposing gate arch. The Baron has just arrived back after a ten year absence.
Gaspard Cornusse is a handmade globe maker. He fashions the globes in built up layers with some type of thin plaster coating over some type of bladder that he, by foot power spins upon an armature. He's got a shop that must cater to the tourist season. His daughter Catherine has a doll factory on the floor above. I'm sure they also consign their work to merchants in near by Grenoble. Catherine spend her days dreaming of knights in shining armor.
Léon is infatuated by Catherine. He goes to Gaspard to ask his permission to marry his daughter.
Léon goes upstairs to visit Catherine to tell her the good news. Catherine is ambivalent, she wants a knight in shining armor, a man who kill to defend her.
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| You want me to kill for you? |
Roland the Baron, surprises the housekeeper Marie and her three boys who have been taking care of the place with his sudden arrival. He's curiously wearing a leather glove on just one hand.
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| Héléna Manson as Marie Coquillot |
He tells Marie to summon the pharmacist Ricomet from the village. When Riomet arrives the Baron asks if he trust him to be discrete. Ricomet says of course.
As soon as Ricomet leaves the Barons presence he warns the housekeeper to keep her children away from the Baron. Of course, the news spreads around town.
Every Christmas the church sets up a crèche in the church for midnight mass. The centerpiece of the nativity scene is the Star of Bethlehem over the anger. The stars centerpiece is the diamond ring of the real St. Nicholas. It's worth is over 300,000 francs.
While two priests put up the crèche, one of them is knocked out during a robbery attempt of the precious ring. It was foiled by the chance removal of the ring by the younger priest, and unseen by the thief just prior to his pounce. The shout from the struck priest and the arrival back of the young priest causes the thief to flee up the belfry and out through a stained glass window.
The town constable arrives at the church and plans are made to guard the crèche during the midnight mass when the ring is back out on display in public.
Gaspard the globe maker is also the towns Père Noël. Every Christmas Eve he visits, carrying a woven basket over his shoulder rather than a sack, all the houses in town with children.
He does his routine. It's a French Version of "who's naughty and who is nice." He's of course tipped off by the parents ahead of time, and he makes the naughty kids squirm by mentioning, say, that he has two whips in the bottom of his basket for them. At every house Gaspard is offered a seat by a warm fireplace and the best drink of the house by the parents, resulting that over the course of Santa's visits Père Noël gets drunker and drunker. By the time he reaches the last house he is teetering and keeps getting the little boy's name wrong. It's quite amusing.
So, mid night mass hurh is held at the is held and of course it all goes Noirsville.
Noirsville
L'Assassinat du père Noël was the first film made in France under Nazi Occupation. Fear and suspicion reigned. Continental Films was a Nazi run company but most of the talent was top notch French, crème de la crème of those not able to hotfoot it out to Hollywood. They created the final product but infused it with unsympathetic subtext in situations that mirrored, on a small scale, current events in France.
L'Assassinat du père Noël combines a dark story with suspense, picaresque humor, romance, and mystery. most of the actors in principal roles were France's 1930s equivalents to John Barrymore, Edward Arnold, Edward G.Robinson, Paul Muni. The film deftly juxtaposes childhood fantasy, with harsh reality achieving an adult fairytale masterpiece. Bravo. 7/10
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