Stavisky... (1974)

User Rating:

6.8/10   

Director:

Alain Resnais

Writer:

Jorge Semprún (writer)

Release Date:

15 May 1974 (France)

Genre:

Crime | Drama

Plot:

Irrestisible charm and talent helps Serge Alexandre alias Stavisky, small-time swindler, to make friends...

Awards:

2 wins & 1 nomination

Cast

Jean-Paul Belmondo	...	Serge Alexandre Stavisky
François Périer	...	Albert Borelli
Anny Duperey	...	Arlette
Michael Lonsdale	...	Docteur Mézy
Roberto Bisacco	...	Juan Montalvo de Montalbon
Claude Rich	...	Inspecteur Bonny
Charles Boyer	...	Le baron Jean Raoul
Pierre Vernier	...	Me Pierre Grammont
Marcel Cuvelier	...	Inspecteur Boussaud
Van Doude	...	Inspecteur principal Gardet
Jacques Spiesser	...	Michel Grandville
Michel Beaune	...	Le journaliste maître-chanteur
Maurice Jacquemont	...	Gauthier
Silvia Badescu	...	Erna Wolfgang
Jacques Eyser	...	Véricourt
Fernand Guiot	...	Van Straaten
Daniel Lecourtois	...	Le président de la commission d'enquête
Gérard Depardieu	...	Le jeune inventeur
Nike Arrighi	...	Edith Boréal
Samson Fainsilber	...	L'employé au fichier
Raymond Girard	...	Dr. Pierre
Gigi Ballista	...	Gaston Henriet
Guido Cerniglia	...	Laloy
Yves Brainville	...	M. de la Salle
Gabriel Cattand	...	Un député à la commission d'enquête
Jean Michaud	...	Houriaux
Niels Arestrup	...	Rudolph, le secrétaire de Trotski
Roland Bertin	...	L'employé et gardien au cimetière
Imelde Marani	...	La provinciale / La belle inconnue
Lucienne Legrand	...	La secrétaire du Professeur Pierre
Guy Piérauld	...	Le contrôleur-receveur
Yves Peneau	...	Léon Trotski
Dominique Rollin	...	Sedov
Catherine Sellers	...	Natalya
Paul Villé	...	L'huissier
Vicky Messica	...	Le régisseur
Lionel Vitrant	...	Un invité
Georges Yacoubian	...	Le valet de chambre
François Leterrier	...	André Malraux
Jean-Michel Charlier	...	Le commissaire divisionnaire
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Jean Davy	...	La voix de Corolian (voice) (uncredited)

Directed by
Alain Resnais

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Jorge Semprún		writer

Produced by
Georges Dancigers	....	delegate producer
Alexandre Mnouchkine	....	delegate producer

Original Music by
Stephen Sondheim

Cinematography by
Sacha Vierny

Film Editing by
Albert Jurgenson

Production Design by
Jacques Saulnier

Costume Design by
Jacqueline Moreau

Makeup Department
Marc Blanchard	....	hair stylist
Charly Koubesserian	....	makeup artist

Production Management
Alain Belmondo	....	production manager

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Jean Léon	....	assistant director
Philippe Lopez	....	assistant director
Florence Malraux	....	assistant director

Sound Department
Bernard Bats	....	sound
Jean-Pierre Ruh	....	sound

Music Department
Georges Bacri	....	musical director
Jonathan Tunick	....	orchestrator

Other crew
Peter Fernandez	....	voice director: English version (uncredited)
Julien Guiomar	....	voice dubbing: Gaston Henriet (uncredited)

Production Companies

• Cerito Films
• Les Films Ariane
• Simar Films
• Euro International Film (EIA) (co-production)

Distributors

• Compagnie Commerciale Française Cinématographique (CCFC) (1974) (France) (theatrical)
• Cinemation Industries (1974) (USA) (theatrical) (subtitled)

Also Known As:

L'empire d'Alexandre
Stavisky, il grande truffatore (Italy)

Runtime:

120 min

Country:

France | Italy

Language:

French | English

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Australia:PG | Finland:K-16 | USA:PG

Company:

Cerito Films

Trivia:

On February 7, 1934, the French Ministry of the Interior and the Paris Police Prefecture banned the showing of newsreel footage of the previous day's mêlée by right-wing royalists, war veterans and members of the anti-semitic, nationalist, anti-republican Action Francaise movement, who rioted to bring down the Daladier government over the Stavisky affair. The riots left 17 dead and 116 wounded. One Parisian cinema, Reginald Ford's Cineac Theatre, defied the censorship to show footage of the riots by the reactionary forces, which had been caught on-camera by French and foreign newsreel photographers.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Les savates du bon Dieu (2000)

For Whom The Belmondo Toils

Not least of the selling points for this movie is the chance to see Charles Boyer back on his own turf after making a fortune and a reputation in Hollywood. Perhaps best known for his refusal to 'speak' to a cockroach in Mitchell Liesen's 'Hold Back The Dawn', following which screenwriters Billy Wilder and Charles Brackett truncated his part and 'threw' the movie to Olivia de Havilland, Boyer was nevertheless a sensitive man, as well he might be with a philosophical degree from the Sorbonne who, rather than go on living without his wife, committed suicide two days after her death. With 20-20 hindsight it's tempting to look for parallels here - Stavisky was made four years prior to Boyer's suicide and he made only a further two on-screen appearances - in respect of Stavisky topping himself in the 12th reel but speculation aside Boyer does score heavily as what might be described as a thoroughbred who's been nobbled. He cheerfully pisses away his 'old money' in pursuit of the good life but when the chips are down he remains resolutely loyal to the lovable rogue who has lied to him blatantly.

Any film that features Francois Perier can't be all bad and here again he lends gravitas to an essentially lightweight project. All the production values are out of the right bottle and nostalgists will have a field day. The jury's still out on Belmondo but the film itself is well worth seeing. 6/10