Portrait of an Assassin

Portrait of an Assassin (French: Portrait d'un assassin) is a 1949 French drama thriller film directed by Bernard-Roland and starring Maria Montez, Erich von Stroheim, Arletty and Pierre Brasseur.^[2]

Portrait of an Assassin
Directed by	Bernard-Roland
Written by	Henri Decoin Marcel Rivet (adaptation cinematographique) Charles Spaak François Chalais (dialogue de)
Screenplay by	(Marcel Rivet (scenario & screenplay)
Produced by	Hubert Vincent Bréchignac
Starring	Maria Montez Erich von Stroheim Arletty Pierre Brasseur
Cinematography	Roger Hubert
Edited by	Germaine Artus
Music by	Maurice Thiriet
Color process	Black and white
Production companies	S.E.C.A. U.T.C.
Distributed by	Societe d'Edition et de Location de Films
Release date	25 November 1949 (1949-11-25)
Running time	90 minutes
Country	France
Language	French
Box office	1,860,774 admissions (France)[1]

Plot

Christina (Montez) is the sadistic manager of a circus show, who uses her attractiveness to seduce men and force them to do dangerous acrobatic acts. One such lover, Eric (Von Stroheim), became handicapped.

Christina seduces Fabius (Brasseur) but his wife Martha (Arletty), turns up and performs the acrobatic act and dies. Fabius then murders Christina in revenge, does the act himself, survives and confesses.

Cast

• Maria Montez as Lucienne de Rinck
• Erich von Stroheim as Eric (as Eric von Stroheim)
• Arletty as Martha
• Pierre Brasseur as Fabius / Jean
• Marcel Dalio as Fred dit Bébé (as Dalio)
• Marcel Dieudonné as Prosper
• Les Fratellini as Eux-mêmes
• Jules Berry as Pfeiffer

Production

The movie was financed by a French furrier.^[3] It was originally announced that the film would be called Portrait of a Murderer and would star Maria Montez and Orson Welles. "Could be the battlingest picture of the century", wrote Hedda Hopper.^[4]

Orson Welles and Charles Lederer were meant to do some work on the film. The producer Jacques Gauthier sued them for $1 million each for non performance.^[5][6]

Reportedly Montez and Arletty feuded during filming causing retakes to be required.

See also

• List of French films of 1949