Pattes Blanches (1949)

Pattes Blanches is an unsettling, not always effective mixture of gritty reality and romantic fantasy. Director Jean Grémillon and writer Jean Anouilh have concocted an interesting, stark tale of sexual intrigue, loneliness, and obsessive hatred, but the elements don't combine to form a cohesive and satisfying whole. This damages the film, but it fortunately has strengths that more than compensate for these shortcomings. Grémillon has created three individual set pieces which are absolutely stunning: Mimi's rhapsodic dance with her ball gown, the nightmarish climactic wedding night sequence, and the encounter between Mimi and Keriadec at the hay-strewn manor. The director has also assembled an impressive cast, each member of which turns in a perfectly pitched performance. Most impressive are Suzy Delair's complex portrayal of the tarty mistress torn between love and a desire for comfort, Arlette Thomas' touching sad and disfigured bar wench whose passionate feelings must be kept in check, and Fernand Ledoux's finely tuned portrayal of a man whose brutishness is leavened with a real -- if ultimately destructive -- love for Delair. Pattes is far from perfect, but it has many moments that are superb. ~ Craig Butler, All Movie Guide