Dark, bleak and intense French Resistance drama that pulls no punches. LA CHATTE (THE CAT) deserves to be better known. Shot in the style of film noir with an excellent cast and script by director Henri Decoin, Jacques Rémy and Eugène Tucherer, on a novel by the latter. A forerunner of Melville's L'ARMÉE DES OMBRES (1969) if not quite the equal of that masterpiece. Highly recommended.
7 Reviews
The Cat and the Dog fall in love, to the misfortune of the Wolves and the Sheep
Spondonman9 March 2015
Francoise Arnoul plays a French resistance heroine with bewitching sexy eyes just about says it all. The flimsy story hangs limply around her performance, which managed to update the War to include a feisty Bardot-like character for a new generation.
An alluring and compact young patriot Cora is used by the Resistance to steal the Nazis plans for a new rocket but she unwittingly falls in love with a tall German spy Bernard, and vice versa; somewhat as a slinky Cat and a faithful Dog. Will Love conquer All or be conquered by War? It's all done nicely and cheaply and the grimy monochrome photography, sets and acting are passable, the music sounds like sci-fi FX only because there was no budget and not to lend period atmosphere – it's just the plot was rather feeble. If it was meant for a deep probing of relative human moral values under internal and external stress then it was far too superficial – and almost as if they were making it up as they went along.
To whom would this film appeal to in the main? As still being a red-blooded male I have to admit that if it hadn't been for Arnoul I probably wouldn't have bothered with it at all – and I almost switched it off after a few doses of director Henri Decoin's personal perversions sledgehammered out by Gestapo and Resistance alike. He made quite a few good films in the discipline of the Golden Age, especially a handful starring his then wife Danielle Darrieux - with this though he gave me the overwhelming impression of a dirty old man director and Arnoul apparently only too eager as usual to co-operate. But again I regret to admit I was extremely interested to know where she was supposed to be hiding the flashlight radio! Sadly the only things the film has left me wondering is can a tub of alcohol really burn with vim for hours on end and how on Earth does the sequel pick it all up again? Overall though, an interesting time-passer.
An alluring and compact young patriot Cora is used by the Resistance to steal the Nazis plans for a new rocket but she unwittingly falls in love with a tall German spy Bernard, and vice versa; somewhat as a slinky Cat and a faithful Dog. Will Love conquer All or be conquered by War? It's all done nicely and cheaply and the grimy monochrome photography, sets and acting are passable, the music sounds like sci-fi FX only because there was no budget and not to lend period atmosphere – it's just the plot was rather feeble. If it was meant for a deep probing of relative human moral values under internal and external stress then it was far too superficial – and almost as if they were making it up as they went along.
To whom would this film appeal to in the main? As still being a red-blooded male I have to admit that if it hadn't been for Arnoul I probably wouldn't have bothered with it at all – and I almost switched it off after a few doses of director Henri Decoin's personal perversions sledgehammered out by Gestapo and Resistance alike. He made quite a few good films in the discipline of the Golden Age, especially a handful starring his then wife Danielle Darrieux - with this though he gave me the overwhelming impression of a dirty old man director and Arnoul apparently only too eager as usual to co-operate. But again I regret to admit I was extremely interested to know where she was supposed to be hiding the flashlight radio! Sadly the only things the film has left me wondering is can a tub of alcohol really burn with vim for hours on end and how on Earth does the sequel pick it all up again? Overall though, an interesting time-passer.
Bleak, downbeat WWII resistance drama
gridoon20248 November 2021
Warning: Spoilers
"La Chatte" has its share of WWII-resistance clichés, but on the other hand no Hollywood film of the same era would make its head Nazi villain so explicitly perverse, or - especially - would end so unheroically. Even the low budget adds to the grittiness. Françoise Arnoul is well-cast in the eponymous role. **1/2 out of 4.
Die Katze.
dbdumonteil9 September 2003
Henry Decoin is to be commended for almost transcending the limitations he's working under:an implausible Resistance story like countless other ones during those immediate post-war years.It reveals ,not unnaturally,producing what Decoin produces best:film noir.No matter it's not a thriller;the treatment is pure film noir.
The black and white cinematography,where the characters move in twilight,the skillful lights,the minimal performance of Françoise Arnoul,all dressed in black leather,from whom a shady sensuality emanates ("Katze Augen"(cat's eye) the German officer says)make up for the rather poor script.The content takes a back seat to form that can be brilliant:the maquis,attacked by the German soldiers,in the darkest forest;Cora (la chatte) trying to poison her lover ,a scene which would not be irrelevant in a suspense movie;the final scene which might have influenced Jean-Pierre Melville for his earnest "l'armée des ombres" (1969) (think of Simone Signoret's death ).Cora's questioning which turns into an erotic extravaganza as the actress slowly removes her stockings,under the officer's lecherous eye.
"La chatte" was a great commercial success,and despite the ending ,there was a sequel "la chatte sort ses griffes" two years later.
The black and white cinematography,where the characters move in twilight,the skillful lights,the minimal performance of Françoise Arnoul,all dressed in black leather,from whom a shady sensuality emanates ("Katze Augen"(cat's eye) the German officer says)make up for the rather poor script.The content takes a back seat to form that can be brilliant:the maquis,attacked by the German soldiers,in the darkest forest;Cora (la chatte) trying to poison her lover ,a scene which would not be irrelevant in a suspense movie;the final scene which might have influenced Jean-Pierre Melville for his earnest "l'armée des ombres" (1969) (think of Simone Signoret's death ).Cora's questioning which turns into an erotic extravaganza as the actress slowly removes her stockings,under the officer's lecherous eye.
"La chatte" was a great commercial success,and despite the ending ,there was a sequel "la chatte sort ses griffes" two years later.
Pity about the script
tony-70-6679202 April 2020
Warning: Spoilers
Having enjoyed Henri Decoin's "Les intrigantes" and "Tous peuvent me tuer", I was looking forward to this one. Unfortunately, despite the director's obvious skill, it was a disappointment because the script was poor and indeed ridiculous.
Cora's husband is a resistant, but dies when the Germans raid their home. Cora doesn't seem at all upset by hubbie's death, but goes to the leader of his cell (Blier, as usual the best thing in the movie) and offers to work for him. She's sent with Henri (Andre Versini, also in "Tous peuvent) to blow a safe and steal the German plans for a rocket. presumably the V1.
Henri is held up at the station, so Cora carries out the mission. Why was she entrusted with the explosive material and how did she know just how to use it? Things get even sillier. Cora's missing sex, and allows herself to be picked up by a man claiming to be Bernard Moser, a Swiss journalist. She introduces him to Blier, who runs what must be the sloppiest Resistance group ever, because he allow Bernard to join. Is there any record of a neutral joining a resistance movement? It's only when things go wrong that they find Bernard is a German officer.. Somehow he's got the names and addresses of all the group (again, how?) They're all rounded up, except for Blier (why?) and the film ends with a scene which anticipates the ending of a much superior Resistance film ("Army of the Shadows") by a decade.
Despite the ending, there was a sequel, presumably because this seriously-flawed opus was a hit in France. I guess they wanted to forget all about the collaborators and build the myth that all nobly resisted the Occupation.
Francoise Arnoul
Vincentiu1 March 2015
it is her film. and that is the basic virtue of Henri Decoin and, maybe, the key of success for the movie. Francoise Arnoul has the science to explore the clichés and the tricks of the classic film noir lead heroine from innocence to seduction and her performance is admirable for the gift to save a not realistic script and to give to a war story not exactly credibility but new nuances. her eyes, her vulnerability, her cold blood, the love story as a sketch, like entire film, in fact, are pieces for a nice show and a seductive work. part of post-war French cinema about the Resistance, it reminds methods and styles of many better movies. and that is, in same measure, a precious gift.
a sketch
Kirpianuscus16 November 2016
it is nothing more than a sketch. sketch of a film noir.same rules. same clichés. and the only special nuance is the presence of Francoise Arnoul. the presence more than acting. because it is not exactly a story about French Resistance but a kind of...drawing. nice, seductive, interesting as support of many similar scenes. and explanation for its success. after decades, it remains only one of the films who preserves a delicate flavor. this is a virtue. but not more to be , after a new view, a sort of historical document, proofing the skills of director, the magnetism of the lead actress, the dialogues and the eroticism, the fight of Maquis and its perception after the cinema after the second World War.
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