Overview
Boule de Suif (released in English-speaking countries as Angel and Sinner) is a black and white 1945 French drama film directed by Christian-Jaque and starring Micheline Presle, Berthe Bovy and Louise Conte.
Background
The film was released in the autumn of 1945, and was the first French film incorporating the theme of resistance. It is an adaptation of two short stories by Guy de Maupassant Boule de suif and Mademoiselle Fifi, which are inter-weaved, and is set during the Franco-Prussian War. A reviewer in Britain noted its "sense of humour, drama, satire and technical skill".
A group of inhabitants of Rouen, travelling for various reasons by stagecoach to Le Havre, includes a prostitute, Élisabeth Rousset, known as Boule de Suif, who is generous and helpful to the others in the carriage, all but one of whom disdain her, but is confronted by their stupidity and complacency. They are detained at a tavern in Tôtes until Boule de Suif submits to the demands of the Prussian officer in residence there. Later, Boule de Suif murders the arrogant Prussian lieutenant (whom his friends nicknamed Fifi) and who had shamelessly displayed his taste for plunder and his sadistic inclinations, before she flees.
Cast
Micheline Presle : Élisabeth Rousset (a prostitute, nicknamed 'Boule de Suif')
Louis Salou : A Prussian officer nicknamed "Fifi"
Berthe Bovy : Mme Bonnet
Alfred Adam : Cornudet
Jean Brochard : Auguste Loiseau
Suzet Maïs : Mme Loiseau
Marcel Simon : Le comte Hubert de Bréville
Louise Conte : La comtesse de Bréville
Pierre Palau : Edmond Carré-Lamadon
Janine Viénot : Mme Carré-Lamadon
Jean Sinoël : Mr Follenvie, the tavern owner
Gabrielle Fontan : Mme Follenvie
Berthe Tissen : Daughter of a militia man
Mona Dol : The sister
Roger Karl : The major-Colonel
Jim Gérald : Captain Von Kerfenstein
Michel Salina : The officer musician
Denis d'Inès : The curé d'Uville
Georges Tourreil : The chief of the independent militia (franc-tireur)
Marcel Mouloudji : A franc-tireur
Pierre Duncan : A franc-tireur
Nicolas Bataille : A franc-tireur
Albert Malbert : Coachman
Paul Faivre : Poitevin
Robert Dalban : Oskar
Howard Vernon : A Prussian
Marcel Rouzé : Poitevin's servant
Jean Werner : A Prussian
From Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0).