Les Diaboliques

Director - Henri-Georges Clouzet
Writer - Henri-Georges Clouzet, Pierre Boileau, Thomas Narcejac

Cast Character

Simone Signoret ... Nicole Horner
Vera Clouzet ... Christina Delassalle
Paul Meurisse ... Michel Delassalle
Charles Vanel ... Alfred Fichet, le commissaire
Jean Brochard ... Plantiveau, le concierge
Pierre Larquey ... M. Drain, professeur
Michel Serrault ... M. Raymond, le surreillant

"The painting is always quite moral when it is tragic and it gives the horror of the things it depicts." - Barbey d'Aurevilly

Les Diaboliques begins in a small French town opening up to the Delassalle Boarding School. Michel Delassalle arrives as the owner of the school. A man rings a bell which brings the students out. Mr. Drain comments to Nicole who says she is chaste that he heard screams from her room last night hinting at her affair with Michel. He tells her unfortunately not everyone can be thrown out of the school system. Christina, a teacher, comments to Nicole seeing her remove her glasses revealing her black eye. Nicole says she and Michel had a fight last night. The wife and mistress, Nicole, only get along so well out of their shared hatred of Michel.

He boldly comes in the room offers to kiss Nicole boldly which she rejects only to give Christina. He warns his mistress Nicole that his frail wife, Christina, will ruin them then violently throws them out. Outside the mistress and Christina talk. Christina being a devout Catholic refuses to divorce him. She says it's a deadly sin. The clothes they wear are indicative of their nature. Nicole wears black glasses hiding her motives and a black dress to show her dark soul while Christina wears a white dress - virginal and pure. Nicole tries to tempt Christina with murdering Michel but she refuses asking Nicole if she believes in hell. She says no but Christina says she believes in it.

At dinner at the school Michel is frugal with one of his subordinates. Nicole is always seen behind her black glasses hiding her emotions and ulterior motives. Michel dominates his wife telling her to swallow her food after she says she isn't hungry. Being wealthy Christina complains why does Michel buy such poor food for the students. This highlights her nervousness at the possibility of killing him. Christina is angry that all her money goes to Michel and he doesn't have the decency to buy good food for the students. The wide shot in the dining room shows the emotional distance between the three of them.

After finding a large box both Nicole and Christina disappear. Michel asks the concierge, Plantiveau, where they are. He tells them they have gone. The two travel to Niort. In the car Nicole tells Christina that Michel wanted she and him to control the school because of Christina's heart condition. Madame Herboux greets them at the hotel. In the room they have the operator call Michel. When he hears they are in Niort he is happy and says, "My compliments." Christina tells him she wants a divorce and wants her dowry returned. The chain of power starts with Michel controlling Nicole and Nicole controlling Christina. Nicole is loud and rough while Christina is loud and sensitive. Nicole uses a toothbrush cup to drink the wine devoid of any sense of high society sensibilities. She puts a sedative in the wine bottle for Michel. She visits Madame Herboux to prevent her from seeing Michel outside providing a witness to the crime.

Michel enters and Christina tells him she refuses to leave. Ready to divorce she tells him her lawyer is Berthoux. He tells her it must be consensual. He tries to spin her self doubt into fear saying she will go poor if they divorce losing the school and social standing. She tries to stop him from drinking the laced alcohol but after she is hit lets him drink. Nicole enters into the bathroom meanwhile Michel is knocked out cold by the drink. The landlords upstairs upset over not hearing their radio game show write a compliant at the time of the noise. This could be used as a possible lead for their crime. Nicole drowns Michel in the bathtub as he is unconscious.

They empty the water the next day and put the body in the large case they brought. The landlord Mr. Herboux helps Nicole put the case in the car. At the gas station a drunk soldier tries to get in their car causing the attendant to help the two women. He notices some leak in the trunk that could be damaging later if he were called as a witness. They return to the school later that night. They drag the case out the car and dump his body in the pool. The supervisors talk and reveal that Michel is missing. It is the third time it has happened. The swimming pool holding Michel is so nerve wracking as it is right near the school with the kids playing near it.

Christina wanting to turn herself in asks Plantiveau to empty the pool. She teaches class and runs outside to the empty pool looking in only to faint. She saw that no body was inside. Inside her room Christina prays. Nicole comes in and tells her she is worried because a corpse couldn't have just disappeared. One man comes into their room with Michel's perfectly crisp, dry suit and said a deliveryman gave it to him.

The two women visit the laundromat where the suit came from and get a key to a hotel where Michel was supposedly staying named Eden Hotel. The servant tells Christina that Michel is never in the room during the day only at night. The man says he never saw him neither the doorkeeper. At the school Nicole is worried if Michel was really dead. Christina argues with Nicole because Nicole planned the whole thing. Outside on her way to confession Christina is stopped by Nicole who shows her the newspaper, "A Naked Man in the Seine." She goes to the morgue to identify the body. She says it's not him. A policeman takes a taxi with Christina to St. Cloud. He introduces himself as Alfred Fichet. He offers to find her husband's body but she declines.

Alfred looks at Michel's personal belongings inside. When describing his clothes to Alfred he closes the door revealing the mysterious dry suit which stuns Christina. Outside a kid is shoveling dirt which Nicole asks why. He said the principal told him to. Nicole slaps him. He tells Christina he revealed himself after he broke the window. A photographer comes and takes a school picture of everyone outside. In the picture behind the window Nicole sees a mysterious stranger. Under a magnifying glass the two women see Michel. They are both afraid.

Alfred comes and tells Christina that he found Michel and he is alive. Christina says this is impossible because she killed him. Despite this he tells her tomorrow morning she will be acquitted. He goes to the garage and sees the mentioned trunk she told him about. Outside her window she sees someone through the building walking through each room. She looks down the hallway to see a room with a light emitting. Behind her a door opens by an unknown person. She hears the typewriter being used. The door opens and she looks inside. It is empty. Michel's hat and gloves are near the typewriter. She looks at the paper and "Michelle Delassalle" is typed several times.

The ending is surprising with two twists that will not be revealed in this review.