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Un acte d'amour
1953 Drama / War / Romance
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Credits
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Director: Anatole Litvak
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Script: Joseph Kessel, Irwin Shaw, Alfred Hayes (novel)
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Photo: Armand Thirard
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Music: Michel Emer, Joe Hajos, Michel B. Rosenstein
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Cast: Kirk Douglas (Robert Teller),
Dany Robin (Lise Gudayec),
Barbara Laage (Nina),
Gabrielle Dorziat (Adèle
Lacaud),
Fernand Ledoux (Fernand Lacaud),
Serge Reggiani (Claude Lacaud),
Robert Strauss (Sgt. Blackwood),
George Mathews (Henderson),
Richard Benedict (Pete),
Leslie Dwyer (English Sergeant),
Brigitte Bardot (Mimi),
Dora Doll (Prostitute),
Gilberte Géniat (Mrs Henderson),
Jess Hahn (Soldier)
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Country: USA / France
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Language: English / French
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Runtime: 95 min
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Aka: Act of Love
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Summary
Some years after the war, an American, Robert Teller, pays a visit to a seaside town in
the South of France. He casts his mind back to 1944, recalling his time in Paris
immediately after the Liberation. There he met a young woman named Lisa, who had
no family, no money, no papers. Taking pity on Lisa, Robert agrees to share his
room in an inn with her. Lisa’s initial hostility towards the American GI soon turns
to affection, much to the disgust of her other admirer, Claude, a Frenchman who bitterly
resents the Americans’ presence in his country...
Review
Immediately after his impressive wartime drama
Decision Before Dawn (1951), Anatole Litvak
made a return to France for his next film, Un acte d'amour
, a big budget melodrama which starred the legendary American actor Kirk Douglas.
The film is based on the novel "The Girl on the Via Flaminia" by Alfred Hayes, with the
setting shifted from Italy to Paris shortly after the Allied invasion during WWII.
In stark contrast to the hard edged realism of Litvak's previous Hollywood offerings,
Un acte d'amour shows strong similarities with
the director's earlier romantic dramas, notably his 1936 film
Mayerling. In spite of a somewhat unconvincing
storyline, the film grabs our attention for two main reasons - the alluring deep focus
noir photography (a recurring feature of Litvak’s cinema) and the exceptional performances
from a mixed American, British and French cast.
Opposite Kirk Douglas is the attractive
Dany Robin in one of her first big roles. Both actors are convincing and bring a
touch of old-fashioned poetic realism to the film, which the cinematographic style amplifies,
making this feel rather like a French film from an earlier decade. The supporting
cast includes some other high-profile actors of the period, notably Serge Reggiani, Gabrielle
Dorziat, Fernand Ledoux and Brigitte Bardot. British viewers will instantly recognise
Leslie Dwyer (a great English character actor with a distinguished career in film and
television) in a small but memorable comedy role.
One of the first Franco-American
productions, Un acte d'amour was shot entirely
in France, making good use of real locations in Paris and Villefranche-sur-Mer.
During the filming, Kirk Douglas was to meet Anne Buydens, a press officer who became
his second wife not long after work on the film was completed.
© James Travers 2007
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