Like Stanley Donen's 1963 thriller CHARADE, Henri-Georges Clouzot's DIABOLIQUE is one of the best Hitchcock films that Hitchcock DIDN'T make! The crucial difference is that CHARADE recalls playful, polished, soignée Hitchcock films such as NORTH BY NORTHWEST, while DIABOLIQUE, based on a novel by Boileau & Narcejac of VERTIGO fame, is more like a precursor of Hitch's darker, more sinister PSYCHO. I understand Clouzot snatched up the film rights to the Boileau/Narcejac novel about half an hour before Hitchcock got a crack at it. It would have been fascinating to see Hitch's approach to the material. Darkly magnificent as PSYCHO is, DIABOLIQUE's gloomy, misogynistic take on the story sinks into your gut and haunts your dreams. Even DIABOLIQUE'S opening credit sequence immediately makes us uneasy with its merciless close-up of the run-down DeLassalle Boarding School's murky, mossy swimming pool, accompanied by children shrilly singing Georges Van Parys's music off-key and off-screen. The film starts out at a leisurely pace, but as it goes along, the tension tightens like a noose, helped by skillful use of shadows and light. Without giving away its twists, I'll only say that DIABOLIQUE gives new meaning to the phrase "cruel to be kind." Vera Clouzot (yes, the director's Mrs., or should I say Mme.?) and Simone Signoret are electrifying as, respectively, the long-suffering wife and mistress of manipulative, sadistic headmaster Paul Meurisse. As the women plot to kill the bastard, Clouzot's delicate loveliness and anxious air (her character has a heart condition that contributes to the suspense -- as if the poor gal doesn't have enough problems!) plays beautifully off Signoret's sexy, smoldering intensity. Which is scarier, the water sports in DIABOLIQUE or in PSYCHO? Watch them and decide for yourselves! :-) Grade: A+
Review of Diabolique
