A champagne tycoon's (Furneaux) partner (Ronet) suspects his partner's gigolo husband (Perkins) of murders he's been framed for.A champagne tycoon's (Furneaux) partner (Ronet) suspects his partner's gigolo husband (Perkins) of murders he's been framed for.A champagne tycoon's (Furneaux) partner (Ronet) suspects his partner's gigolo husband (Perkins) of murders he's been framed for.
- Awards
- 1 win
Henri Attal
- Attacker in Dark Coat
- (uncredited)
Robert Burnier
- General at Evelyn's Party
- (uncredited)
Colin Drake
- Evelyn's Party Guest
- (uncredited)
Pierre Gualdi
- Bishop at Evelyn's Party
- (uncredited)
Raoul Guylad
- Customer at Denise's Shop
- (uncredited)
Catherine Langeais
- Evelyn's Party Guest
- (uncredited)
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaClaude Chabrol made this film for an American company, Universal, and with some American and British actors in prominent roles. Each scene for the film was filmed in both French and English versions, with the result that it got widely released in Britain and America. The English-language version was mostly scripted by film critics. Chabrol, who spoke excellent English, was able to maintain complete artistic control over the project.
- Quotes
Christopher: [to Christine who is trying to seduce him] I'm sorry darling. I don't really feel too well. I'm tired. It's always like this when I haven't had enough television.
- ConnectionsReferenced in Kill Bill: Vol. 1 (2003)
Featured review
Uneven early Claude Chabrol thriller
This was a movie that French director Claude Chabrol made just before the period considered his golden era in which he knocked out a number of excellent dramatic thrillers. It would only be fair to say that with this one he hadn't quite nailed the formula, as while it has a complex plot, it ultimately doesn't add up to all that much by the end. The story features a young couple who try to convince, Paul Wagner, the mentally unstable owner of a respected champagne business to sell his company to another corporation. Matters are complicated when on a trip to Germany, a girl Wagner meets is murdered while he experiences a blackout, while back in France the same thing happens once again. These events are used as leverage to blackmail him into giving up his company.
It's got to be said that this one takes a while to get going. It begins with a scene involving a gang attack, which kind of sits a bit awkwardly in the story, and it is only alluded to later on but left essentially adrift from everything else. After this, we watch some rich types involve themselves in a series of vaguely interesting activities but it is really only once the first murder finally occurs that the story becomes interesting. It sort of gets by after that but you would be hard pushed to say by the end that it was anything too out of the ordinary or inspired. Still, any film that features the incredibly alluring Stéphane Audran gets plus points from me basically from the get-go, and while she does have an admittedly smaller role than she would have in Chabrol's later films, it is an important one. Frankly, Audran was a huge reason that many of the films from Chabrol's golden era were so good and in this instance, even with limited screen-time she is still head and shoulders above everybody else. There was a neat disguise reveal later on which had me fooled and the movie does end on a commendably strange final shot. Ultimately, this is certainly worth a watch if you like Chabrol or Audran, although it is for sure one of their lesser collaborations.
It's got to be said that this one takes a while to get going. It begins with a scene involving a gang attack, which kind of sits a bit awkwardly in the story, and it is only alluded to later on but left essentially adrift from everything else. After this, we watch some rich types involve themselves in a series of vaguely interesting activities but it is really only once the first murder finally occurs that the story becomes interesting. It sort of gets by after that but you would be hard pushed to say by the end that it was anything too out of the ordinary or inspired. Still, any film that features the incredibly alluring Stéphane Audran gets plus points from me basically from the get-go, and while she does have an admittedly smaller role than she would have in Chabrol's later films, it is an important one. Frankly, Audran was a huge reason that many of the films from Chabrol's golden era were so good and in this instance, even with limited screen-time she is still head and shoulders above everybody else. There was a neat disguise reveal later on which had me fooled and the movie does end on a commendably strange final shot. Ultimately, this is certainly worth a watch if you like Chabrol or Audran, although it is for sure one of their lesser collaborations.
helpful•42
- Red-Barracuda
- Mar 8, 2018
- How long is The Champagne Murders?Powered by Alexa
Details
- Release date
- Country of origin
- Language
- Also known as
- Champagner Mörder
- Filming locations
- Atlantic Hotel, St. Georg, Hamburg, Germany(Hotel where Wagner's stays.)
- Production company
- See more company credits at IMDbPro
- Runtime1 hour 45 minutes
- Sound mix
- Aspect ratio
- 2.35 : 1
Contribute to this page
Suggest an edit or add missing content