The Black Book
Also known as: Reign of Terror
Brief Description:
A powerful figure in the French Revolution desperately seeks his book listing those marked for death, thereby guaranteeing his rise to dictatorship.
Date: 1949
Genre: American historical adventure thriller film noir
Running time: 1 hour 29 minutes
Cast:
Robert Cummings as Charles d’Aubigny
Richard Basehart as Maximilien Robespierre
Richard Hart as François Barras
Arlene Dahl as Madelon
Arnold Moss as Fouché
Norman Lloyd as Tallien
Charles McGraw as Sergeant
Beulah Bondi as Grandma Blanchard
Jess Barker as Louis Antoine de Saint-Just
Wade Crosby as Danton
Wilton Graff as the Marquis de Lafayette
Mary Currier as Mme Duval
John Doucette as Pierre Blanchard
Russ Tamblyn as the Blanchards’ oldest son
Ellen Lowe as Marie Blanchard
Anthony Sydes as the Blanchards’ youngest son
Georgette Windsor as Cecile
Shepperd Strudwick as Napoleon Bonaparte (voice)
Director: Anthony Mann
Production company: Eagle-Lion Films
(watched on Tubi)
Setting/Aesthetic/Feel: 3/5
Honestly, when I started this, I was emphatically not a fan. It's so extremely American. Everyone has the strongest American accents and pronounces all the French names in English. It's excessively jarring. It felt like a play about France, not a movie set in France.
Characters: 3.5/5
I like d'Aubigny and Madelon... sort of. At least I didn't actively dislike them. I hated Robespierre, of course, and Fouché; and St. Juste, who completely baffled me because I kept thinking he was Armand St. Juste from The Scarlet Pimpernel. (Since Louis Antoine de St. Juste actually existed, I wonder why Baroness Orczy named her heroine's family the St. Justes???) The Blanchards were all nice people, and everyone else I was heartily indifferent towards.
Plot: 3.5/5
So, first off, the film is so dark I had the hardest time figuring out what was happening 50% of the time. The dialogue, though I had captions, didn't help much. The basic premise, though—the loyal d'Aubigny taking the place of a famous executioner Robespierre called in from Stratsbourg, and trying to help stop him from being dictator by finding the little black book for Barras—was interesting, and by the mid-point I was invested. There were four specific points in the film that made me go from "meh" to "hm": the whole part about Madelon in Robespierre's power, which I felt had great potential as a storyline (I feel like it was underused in the film, though); the scene where St. Juste tries to convince the littlest Blanchard boy to spill the beans but kicks the cat and gets scorned for his pains; the scene where Robespierre almost talks himself out of trouble (reminded me of Mark Antony in Julius Caesar); and the ending with the Napoleon cameo. Also, the scene at the bridge did worry me, so I guess I was more invested than I thought.
Romance: 3/5
The most passionate kisses I've seen in a black and white movie, lol. I didn't particularly care for d'Aubigny & Madelon's romance, especially since it's never explained why they quarrelled and broke up in the first place.
Content: 2/5 (low)
Possibly language; drinking; low-necked dresses.
Violence: 3/5 (medium)
2 scenes of torture (a bare-chested man hung by his arms in Robespierre's room & screaming when he's hurt; Madelon hung in the same place & also screaming when hurt); someone is shot in the face; someone is choked out on screen; lots of fighting.
Overall: 3.5/5
