An orphan, a predator, and a snail collector walk into 1938 France—what could go wrong?
When Paul, an officer, discovers Denise, a young orphan escaped from her orphanage, he takes advantage of his naivete to seduce her before changing her mind and sending her to live with her mother while sailing.
Acting
Michel Simon balances absurdity and menace as the snail-obsessed Count.
Production
Rare surviving print of a nearly lost pre-war French drama.
Director
Maurice Lehmann
Françoise Rosay
Régina Berry
Michel Simon
Counr Edouard de Bourgogne, aka 'L'Escargot'
Gaby Sylvia
Denise
Ginette Leclerc
Ginette
Serge Nadaud
Dinard, Regina's costume designer
Georges Lannes
Ricardo
Paul Cambo
Paul Prébant
Léon Bary
(non crédité)
Bernard Blier
Taxi driver (uncredited)
Hugues de Bagratide
(uncredited)
Yves Deniaud
Cabaret boy (uncredited)
Louis Florencie
(uncredited)
La Houppa
Clara, Regina's chambermaid (uncredited)
Yvonne Legeay
Madame de Lentenac (uncredited)
Palmyre Levasseur
Agency director (uncredited)
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Released months before WWII, this captures a France about to disappear—morally and literally.
Michel Simon famously kept actual snails as pets; some in frame may be his personal collection.
FR
