Before Brigitte Bardot there was Martine Carol and before her came Viviane Romance whose sensuality, in keeping with the times, was more subdued. Unlike the two subsequent sex sirens Mlle Romance could really act! Indeed, from the mid-1930's to the mid '40's she reigned supreme and virtually cornered the market as vamp, femme fatale, satanic seductress and all round naughty baby.

In this adaptation of Jean Vignaud's novel she is more sympathetic as a prostitute plying her trade in Tunisia who ends up in Parisian high society as the wife of rich archaeologist André played with his usual 'edge' by Pierre Renoir. They have a child but unbeknown to André the father is actually Matteo, a penniless Arab mystic whom she has left behind believing him to be dead. Needless to say her past comes back to haunt her.......

Marcel Dalio is as mysterious as ever as Matteo but is also extremely moving. This was a marvellous period for Dalio but alas short-lived as he very wisely made a speedy exit from France before the Germans moved in.

As a bonus we have superlative scene-stealer Louis Jouvet as a blackmailer. He does not appear for an hour but is well worth the wait. The dynamic between him and and his wonderfully wicked partner in crime, played by the director's current wife Florence Marly, is fascinating and one is left wanting more.

The film itself holds few surprises but is eminently watchable and one accepts the studio-bound locations thanks to art director Georges Wakhévitch and the atmospheric cinematography of Curt Courant.

The post-war films of Pierre Chenal are a mixed bunch to say the least but a handful made during the 1930's are simply splendid and typify French cinema during its L'Age d'Or. This one is also a fine example of the type of film later labelled by academics as 'orientalist'. It is to be lamented that even his best films from the period have since been deemed by critics in their infinite wisdom to be mediocre and overrated. True cinéphiles know better.

Before Brigitte Bardot there was Martine Carol and before her came Viviane Romance whose sensuality, in keeping with the times, was more subdued. Unlike the two subsequent 'sex symbols' Mlle Romance could really act! Indeed, from the mid-1930's to the mid '40's she reigned supreme and virtually cornered the market as vamp, femme fatale, satanic seductress and all round naughty baby.

In this adaptation of Jean Vignaud's novel she is more sympathetic as a prostitute plying her trade in Tunisia who ends up in Parisian high society as the wife of rich archaeologist André played with his usual 'edge' by Pierre Renoir. They have a child but unbeknown to André the father is actually Matteo, a penniless Arab mystic whom she has left behind believing him to be dead. Needless to say her past comes back to haunt her.......

Marcel Dalio is as mysterious as ever as Matteo but is also extremely moving. This was a marvellous period for Dalio but alas short-lived as he very wisely made a speedy exit from France before the Germans moved in.

As a bonus we have superlative scene-stealer Louis Jouvet as a blackmailer. He does not appear for an hour but is well worth the wait. The dynamic between him and and his wonderfully wicked partner in crime, played by the director's current wife Florence Marly, is fascinating and one is left wanting more.

The film itself holds few surprises but is eminently watchable and one accepts the studio-bound locations thanks to art director Georges Wakhévitch and the atmospheric cinematography of Curt Courant.

The post-war films of Pierre Chenal are a mixed bunch to say the least but a handful made during the 1930's are simply splendid and typify French cinema during its L'Age d'Or. This one is also a fine example of the type of film later labelled by academics as 'orientalist'. It is to be lamented that even his best films from the period have since been deemed by critics in their infinite wisdom to be mediocre and overrated. True cinéphiles know better.

I read dbdumonteil, my favourite reviewer —I usually agree with him and I love to disagree too— and well… I felt compelled to add something to pump-up his enthusiasm.

For if "Le dernier tournant" is good, if "La foire aux chimères" is very good, twisty and enthralling, this "Maison du Maltais" is one of the most flamboyant melodramas I've ever seen. And, to my eyes, the best thing Pierre Chenal ever made.

The story is classic melodrama with enough turns to entertain and appeal you all 87 minutes long.

The characters are clichéd at first sight, but finding redeeming features in their parts to finally become original.

The good-hearted hard working whore becomes a lady then finds herself compelled to inhabit for some minutes, twice, her whore's clothes and behaviour. The dreamer, Dalio, also knows transformations, three times in his case.

The two-fold story benefits of an excellent pace, great set-ups —the first reel's exotic ambiance is exceptionally well created— and great cinematography too, the best I've seen for any Chenal's works.

About the cast, the other reviewers said it already, but let me add this : Viviane Romance is here just as good as she'll be in Duvivier's "Panique", and maybe better. Isn't it enough?

If no, I'll say more : it's Dalio's part for his life-time. Jany Holt is cast in her category, and she does it just at her best.

More? Jouvet, stellar in less than ten minutes screen-time, astonishing, amazing…

OK, enough, you see my point: try to watch this one, along with the two other Pierre Chenal's movies named earlier, and admit with me that he was one of the great "petits maîtres" of French cinema, when he had the chance.

And for this peculiar movie, Stahl or Sirk didn't do better. Yes indeed!

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