The Bitch

1931 [FRENCH]

Action / Crime / Drama / Romance

12
Rotten Tomatoes Critics - Rotten 87% · 18 reviews
Rotten Tomatoes Audience - Upright 87% · 500 ratings
IMDb Rating 7.5/10 10 5262 5.3K

based on novel or book unrequited love black and white

Plot summary

Cashier Maurice Legrand is married to Adele, a terror. By chance, he meets Lucienne, "Lulu", and make her his mistress. He thinks he finally met love, but Lulu is nothing but a streetwalker, in love with Dede, her pimp. She only accepts Legrand to satisfy Dede's needs of money.

Director

Jean Renoir Photo
Jean Renoir

Top cast

Michel Simon Photo
Michel Simon as Maurice Legrand
Ghislaine Autant-Lara Photo
Ghislaine Autant-Lara as Petit rôle
Henri Guisol Photo
Henri Guisol as Amédée - le garçon de café
Sylvain Itkine Photo
Sylvain Itkine as L'avocat de Dédé
720p.BluRay 1080p.BluRay
871.29 MB
1280*1058
French 2.0
NR
Subtitles fr  
23.976 fps
1 hr 36 min
Seeds 2
1.59 GB
1296*1072
French 2.0
NR
Subtitles fr  
23.976 fps
1 hr 36 min
Seeds 10

Movie Reviews

Reviewed by alice liddell 8 / 10

What a great world that can find space for both this and SCARLET STREET. (possible spoiler)

Reviewed by jboothmillard 6 / 10

La Chienne (The B****)

I had been buying the book 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die since it was first released in 2004, so that's 16 editions (plus five with alternative covers) across 16 years. Some of the films that appeared in it through that time have been difficult to find, and some are questionable entries, but it has been an interesting experience to find and watch all 1,222 titles. This French film was the final film I ever had to watch from any of the 16 books, an odd choice, but I went with it, directed by Jean Renoir (La Grande Illusion, La Règle du Jeu, The Golden Coach). Basically, Maurice Legrand (Michel Simon) is a meek cashier and aspirant painter. He is unhappily married to Adèle (Magdeleine Bérubet) who is abusive and mistreats him. After a celebration in the company where he works, Maurice witnesses a man, André "Dédé" Jauguin (Georges Flamant), hitting a young named Lucienne "Lulu" Pelletier (Janie Marèse) on the street. Maurice protects Lulu and brings her home. Lulu is a prostitute, she tells the naive Maurice that Dédé is her brother, in fact Dédé is her pimp. Maurice rents an apartment for Lulu and she becomes his mistress. Maurice's wife Adèle intends to throw his paintings away, so he brings them to the apartment. Dédé takes these paintings for himself and sells them to an art dealer for a large amount. But he tells the dealer that Lulu is the artist who painted them, using the alias Clara Wood. Maurice meanwhile stumbles on Adèle's former husband who was thought to be killed during the war. Maurice is beginning to realise that Adèle is not a good woman, and he plots to a scheme to get rid of her. He is successful in throwing her out when he surprises Lulu and Dêdé in bed during the night. Maurice leaves her apartment and returns to Lulu the following morning to have a talk. She confesses that she loves Dédé and humiliates Maurice by saying that she only stayed with him for his money. Maurice attacks her with a knife and leaves the apartment unnoticed by any witnesses. Dédé arrives moments later and discovers Lulu's body. Dédé is accused of Lulu's murder owing to his reputation, he is found guilty and executed. Maurice becomes a vagrant. Also starring Jean Gehret as Monsieur Dugodet. It is a fairly simple story of a naïve and simple man who thinks he has finally found love, abandoning his marriage, but the woman is nothing but a money-hungry streetwalker, and her pimp is part of her scam. You could argue it is more about the innocent male character than the "b****" of the title, or indeed her pimp, but the callousness of the scammers is intriguing, the on-location filming was an influential break from studio sets at the time, it does have moments that get your attention, overall it is an interesting drama. Good!
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