Dédée d'Anvers

Simone Signoret was Allégret 's wife at the time and of course his favourite actress.They teamed up for the third time but it was the first movie that really counted."Dédée d'Anvers" is not a masterpiece though.It's too close to the realisme poetique which was thriving during the last years before the war ,the Carné school.Signoret is well cast as a whore who falls in love and wants to begin a brand new life .Her vulgarity works wonders and she gets good support from Jane Marken and Bernard Blier.But the harbour subject and the ships which go sailing away where there are places in the sun had grown stale and hackneyed:see "quai des brumes" (1937) and even "les portes de la nuit" (1946)."Dédée d'Anvers" is a film noir ,the highlight of which is a murder in the wee small hours in the harbour.

Jacques Sigurd,Allégret's script writer , provided the director with solid material which would become better and better along the years.Their three best works were arguably "une si jolie petite plage" (1949) "manèges"(1950) which reunited the threesome Signoret-Blier-Marken for what was probably Allégret's peak and "les orgueilleux".(1953).After that movie,it was downhill.

Some people make a big issue about this movie having been released in 1948. Apparently this was too late, it should have been 1938... as if that made any difference in this century.

At the time, the logic goes, poetic realism was no longer a thing, it was outdated, passé, old-fashioned. Well I contend that a good movie remains a good movie, in or out of fashion. Even if it was released yesterday, so even more so if it's as old as your granny.

For a start, as everyone acknowledges,, there's Simone Signoret. Not only (very) beautiful, but a powerful, tragic figure that fills the screen. As soon as you see her, you know you can expect... OK no spoilers.

Then there's a strong, memorable story. This is an important ingredient in poetic realism, as it gives weight to the atmospheric sets. That is part of why Le Jour se Lève or Liliom are so good. Dédée d'Anvers is in that class. People have compared it unfavourably with Quai des Brumes. Well I find that, for all its spender, that movie has a somewhat meandering, confused story that makes you wonder what all the atmosphere is about.

In her break-out film role, Simone Signoret plays a girl at Bernard Blier's cheap nightclub in the Antwerp Harbor. Her pimp is Dalio, the door porter. She is scared of him. Blier treats his girls like family, insisting they help clear the tables after their communal meals; it's good training for when they get married, he says.

Into his menage enters Marcello Pagliero, a sailor who engages in some sort of illicit trade -- It's a Gabin sort of role, were this not a vehicle for Mlle Signor. Blier eyes him as marriage material for her, and soon they are much in love.

It was directed for Mlle Signoret by her then husband,Yves Allégret, and clearly intended as Marcel Carné poetic realism sort of movie; Allégret uses many actos who played for Carné. It's a poor effort, almost a burlesque of the form, but Mlle Signoret is luminous, and Blier is excellent.

Luckily for them and for us this first collaboration firmly established husband and wife team Yves Allégret and Simone Signoret.

The influence of that masterpiece of poetic-realism 'Quai des Brumes' is there for all to see although the dialogue of Jacques Sigurd ensures there is far less poetry than realism. Despite oodles of atmosphere courtesy of lighting cameraman Jean Bourgoin and a talented cast this does rather pale in comparison with the earlier film.

Superlative Bernard Blier(father of Bertrand) is both tough and tender as nightclub owner Monsieur René whilst Marcel Dalio relishes his role as Dédée's crapulous pimp. Jane Marken does a nice turn as a tart with a heart. Marcello Pagliero is suitably laconic as Francesco, the ill-fated hero but his character is under-written and he is no Jean Gabin! The scenes between Blier and Signoret are excellent and Allégret was to pair them again to great effect two years later in 'Maneges'.

In the title role La Signoret not only has star quality in spades but exhibits an unbeatable combination of sensuality and vulnerability. Suffice to say husband Allégret ensures that she is lovingly lit and almost caressed by the camera.

For any film to have the desired effect it is essential to have at least a good opening and ending. The opening scene here is nothing less than iconic whilst the ending is nothing short of devastating and still guaranteed to shock.

Simone SIGNORET as "Diddi from Antwerp"

Poetic realism is something like France's Black Series: dark noir atmosphere, stories of people on the fringes of society. Yves ALLEGRET was certainly not the most important director in this genre, but his films are definitely worth seeing. Especially when the later OSCAR winner Simone SIGNORET can be seen in it.

Dédée (Simone SIGNORET) ended up in Antwerp with her brutal pimp boyfriend Marcel DALIO. There you are suffering a bit from competition with the increasingly successful port of Hamburg. The curb swallow falls in love with an Italian captain (Marcello PAGLIERO) and gains hope for a better life. Bernard BLIER and Jane MANKEN can also be seen in other roles.

The film impresses with its atmosphere and also with its greater freedom compared to other films from the time. French films are simply more sensual than any other. And that's why they are rightly so popular. In addition to Simone SIGNORET, Marcello PAGLIERO in particular plays very well. As an actor he is known from the classic "Roma - Citta aperta", and as a screenwriter he was nominated for an OSCAR together with Klaus MANN and Federico FELLINI (and two others) for "PAISA".

This film, which is well worth seeing, will certainly be available in the ARTE media library for some time to come.