The Devil and the Ten Commandments

1963 French film

Le Diable et les Dix Commandements

Original French film poster

Directed by| Julien Duvivier
Written by| David Alexander
Michel Audiard
Produced by| Claude Jaeger
Robert Amon
Starring| Michel Simon
Louis de Funès
Music by| Georges Garvarentz
Guy Magenta
Michel Magne
Distributed by| Cinédis (1962) (France)
Union Film Distributors Inc. (1963) (USA)

Release date

* 14 September 1963 (1963-09-14)

Running time

| 143 minutes;
126 minutes (France)
Country| France
Language| French
Box office| $13.6 million[1]

Le Diable et les Dix Commandements (English: The Devil and the Ten Commandments) is a French film from 1962 directed by Julien Duvivier that consists of seven sketches (eight in the versions shown in Germany and Japan) played by an ensemble cast that includes Michel Simon, Micheline Presle, Françoise Arnoul, Mel Ferrer, Charles Aznavour, Lino Ventura, Fernandel, Alain Delon, Danielle Darrieux, Jean-Claude Brialy, and Louis de Funès.

The film contrasts a series of human failings with the ever-present hope of redemption and a snake (voiced by Claude Rich) adds the Devil's comments.[2]

## Plot

[edit]

Episode 1 Jérôme, the old handyman at a convent, is warned that he will lose his job if he continues to take the name of the Lord in vain, but is saved when the visiting bishop proves to be an old school friend.

Episode 2 To obtain a beautiful necklace, Françoise succumbs to the wealthy Philip, husband of her friend Micheline. Her husband Georges finds the necklace she had hidden and gives it to Micheline after a happy afternoon together.

Episode 3 Denis, a Jesuit novice, leaves the order to avenge his sister's suicide, which was provoked by Garigny, who seduced her into prostitution and drug addiction. The police tell him that Garigny, if convicted for pimping and dealing, would only get a few years. He arranges to confront Garigny alone and unarmed, but in fact has a concealed shotgun. When he says he is leaving to inform the police, Garigny grabs the gun and shoots him dead. In fact Denis had already alerted the police, who arrest Garigny for murder.

Episode 4 A stranger arrives at an isolated farm, saying that he is God. He gets the grandfather, who had pretended to be paralysed, out of his chair and walking, and then eases the last moments of the dying grandmother. On his way out, he is found by the psychiatric nurses who have been looking for him.

Episode 5 Pierre, a medical student who is nearly 21, has a tense relationship with his taciturn father Marcel and shrewish mother Germaine. Out of the blue, Marcel tells him his real mother was Clarisse, now a noted stage actress. When he visits Clarisse after a rehearsal, she first tries to seduce the handsome young stranger and then, without ceasing to be flirtatious, retreats into vagueness once she is told the truth. Realising that she is not worth his time, Pierre resolves to be a good son to the couple who have brought him up.

Episode 6 Having lost interest in his job as a bank cashier, Didier is told to leave at the end of the week. When a gunman appears at his position, he fills the man's suitcase with notes and coins. He then tracks down the thief, breaks into his apartment, and recovers the case. The thief then tracks him down and, after much argument, the two agree to share the loot. On opening the case, it contains bread, wine, and a sausage. The tramp who had substituted his lunch for the money is arrested for the theft.

Episode 7 From Episode 1, Jérôme and the bishop are enjoying a well-lubricated lunch, after which the bishop has difficulty in remembering what are the Ten Commandments.[3]

## Cast

[edit]

### 1st episode

[edit]

* Michel Simon : Jérôme Chambard
* Lucien Baroux : Monsignor Trousselier
* Claude Nollier : Mother Superior
* Albert Michel : vegetable seller
* Nina Myral : a nun (uncredited)

### 2nd episode

[edit]

* Micheline Presle : Micheline Allan
* Françoise Arnoul : Françoise Beaufort
* Mel Ferrer : Philip Allan
* Claude Dauphin : Georges Beaufort
* Marcel Dalio : jeweller (uncredited)
* Claude Piéplu : security guard (uncredited)
* Marie-France Pisier : girl at a dance (uncredited)

### 3rd episode

[edit]

* Charles Aznavour : Denis Mayeux
* Lino Ventura : Garigny, the pimp
* Maurice Biraud : Louis, police inspector
* Maurice Teynac : Father Superior
* Clément Harari : Garigny's muscle

### 4th episode

[edit]

* Fernandel : the madman
* Germaine Kerjean : grandmother
* Gaston Modot : grandfather
* René Clermont : father

### 5th episode

[edit]

* Alain Delon : Pierre Messager
* Danielle Darrieux : Clarisse Ardant
* Madeleine Robinson : Germaine Messager
* Georges Wilson : Marcel Messager
* Roland Armontel : Mercier
* Hubert Noël : Clarisse's lover
* Dominique Paturel : actor
* Gaby Basset : Clarisse's dresser
* Raoul Marco : actor

### 6th episode

[edit]

* Jean-Claude Brialy : Didier Marin, the bank clerk
* Louis de Funès : Antoine Vaillant, the bank raider
* Noël Roquevert : police inspector

### 7th épisode

[edit]

* Michel Simon : Jérôme Chambard
* Lucien Baroux : Monsignor Trousselier

## Reception

[edit]

According to the US critic Bosley Crowther, only one of the seven episodes tickled him, that in which Louis de Funès and Jean-Claude Brialy star.[2]

## See also

[edit]

* The Ten Commandments (1956 film)

## References

[edit]

1. ^ "Le Diable et les dix commandements (1962) - JPBox-Office". www.jpbox-office.com. Retrieved Mar 22, 2020.
2. ^ a b Bosley Crowther (October 15, 1963). "Le Diable et les Dix Commandements". The New York Times.
3. ^ The American Film Institute Catalog of Motion Pictures Produced in the United States. Vol. Part 2. University of California Press. 1997. p. 251\. ISBN 0-520-20970-2.

## External links

[edit]

* The Devil and the Ten Commandments at IMDb
* The Devil and the Ten Commandments (1963) at the TCM Movie Database
* Der Teufel und die zehn Gebote at the defunes.de
* Bosley Crowther, Le Diable et les Dix Commandements, The New York Times, October 15, 1963
* The Devil and the Ten Commandments at Rotten Tomatoes

* v
* t
* e

Films directed by Julien Duvivier

Filmography

* The Agony of the Eagles (1922)
* The Hurricane on the Mountain (1922)
* The Abbot Constantine (1925)
* The Red Head (1925)
* The Man with the Hispano (1926)
* The Marriage of Mademoiselle Beulemans (1927)
* The Maelstrom of Paris (1928)
* The Mystery of the Eiffel Tower (1928)
* The Divine Voyage (1929)
* La Vie miraculeuse de Thérèse Martin (1930)
* David Golder (1931)
* Moon Over Morocco (1931)
* Here's Berlin (1932)
* The Five Accursed Gentlemen (1932)
* The Red Head (1932)
* A Man's Neck (1933)
* The Little King (1933)
* Maria Chapdelaine (1934)
* Golgotha (1935)
* La Bandera (1935)
* Le Golem (1936)
* They Were Five (1936)
* The Man of the Hour (1937)
* Pépé le Moko (1937)
* Life Dances On (1937)
* The Great Waltz (1938)
* The End of the Day (1939)
* The Phantom Carriage (1939)
* Lydia (1941)
* Tales of Manhattan (1942)
* The Heart of a Nation (1943)
* Flesh and Fantasy (1943)
* The Impostor (1944)
* Panique (1946)
* Anna Karenina (1948)
* The Sinners (1949)
* Black Jack (1950)
* Under the Sky of Paris (1951)
* Little World of Don Camillo (1952)
* Holiday for Henrietta (1952)
* The Return of Don Camillo (1953)
* On Trial (1954)
* Marianne of My Youth (1955)
* Deadlier Than the Male (1956)
* The Man in the Raincoat (1957)
* Lovers of Paris (1957)
* The Female (1959)
* Marie-Octobre (1959)
* The High Life (1960)
* Boulevard (1960)
* The Burning Court (1962)
* The Devil and the Ten Commandments (1962)
* Highway Pick-Up (1963)
* Diabolically Yours (1967)

* v
* t
* e

Films by Michel Audiard

Written and directed|

* Leontine (1968)
* A Golden Widow (1969)
* Elle boit pas, elle fume pas, elle drague pas, mais... elle cause ! (1970)
* Comment réussir quand on est con et pleurnichard (1974)

Written only|

* Mission in Tangier (1949)
* Beware of Blondes (1950)
* Darling Caroline (1951)
* Mr. Peek-a-Boo (1951)
* My Wife Is Formidable (1951)
* The Man in My Life (1952)
* Massacre in Lace (1952)
* She and Me (1952)
* The Long Teeth (1953)
* The Most Wanted Man (1953)
* The Three Musketeers (1953)
* April Fools' Day (1954)
* The Cheerful Squadron (1954)
* Love in a Hot Climate (1954)
* Quay of Blondes (1954)
* Gas-Oil (1955)
* Blood to the Head (1956)
* Mannequins of Paris (1956)
* Short Head (1956)
* Fugitive in Saigon (1957)
* Retour de manivelle (1957)
* Speaking of Murder (1957)
* Three Days to Live (1957)
* Le désordre et la nuit (1958)
* Maigret Sets a Trap (1958)
* Les Misérables (1958)
* The Possessors (1958)
* Archimède le clochard (1959)
* Babette Goes to War (1959)
* Eyes of Love (1959)
* Maigret et l'affaire Saint-Fiacre (1959)
* Rue des prairies (1959)
* Too Late to Love (1959)
* The Baron of the Locks (1960)
* Love and the Frenchwoman (1960)
* The Old Guard (1960)
* The Counterfeiters of Paris (1961)
* Famous Love Affairs (1961)
* The Lions Are Loose (1961)
* The President (1961)
* Taxi for Tobruk (1961)
* The Devil and the Ten Commandments (1962)
* Emile's Boat (1962)
* The Gentleman from Epsom (1962)
* A Monkey in Winter (1962)
* Any Number Can Win (1963)
* Carom Shots (1963)
* Les Tontons flingueurs (1963)
* The Trip to Biarritz (1963)
* La Chasse à l'homme (1964)
* The Great Spy Chase (1964)
* Greed in the Sun (1964)
* Salad by the Roots (1964)
* Une souris chez les hommes (1964)
* Les Bons Vivants (1965)
* Crime on a Summer Morning (1965)
* La Métamorphose des cloportes (1965)
* Tender Scoundrel (1966)
* All Mad About Him (1967)
* An Idiot in Paris (1967)
* Johnny Banco (1967)
* A Little Virtuous (1968)
* Pasha (1968)
* Under the Sign of the Bull (1969)
* Incorrigible (1975)
* Body of My Enemy (1976)
* The Big Operator (1976)
* Animal (1977)
* Death of a Corrupt Man (1977)
* Cop or Hood (1979)
* Les Égouts du paradis (1979)
* Le Guignolo (1980)
* Jupiter's Thigh (1980)
* Il lupo e l'agnello (1980)
* Garde à Vue (1981)
* The Professional (1981)
* Espion, lève-toi (1982)
* Deadly Circuit (1983)
* Le Marginal (1983)
* Dog Day (1984)
* Les Morfalous (1984)
* La Cage aux Folles 3: The Wedding (1985)
* He Died with His Eyes Open (1985)

* v
* t
* e

Ten Commandments

Tablets of Stone · Finger of God · Ritual Decalogue

Commandments|

* I am the Lord thy God
* Thou shalt have no other gods before me
* Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image
* Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain
* Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy
* Honour thy father and thy mother
* Thou shalt not kill
* Thou shalt not commit adultery
* Thou shalt not steal
* Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour
* Thou shalt not covet

Topics|

* Moses
* Biblical Mount Sinai
* Mount Sinai
* Mount Horeb
* Ark of the Covenant
* lid
* Book of Exodus
* The Exodus

In art|

* Descent from Mount Sinai (Sistine Chapel, 1481-1482 painting)
* Moses (c. 1513–1515 sculpture)
* Moses and his Ethiopian wife Zipporah (c. 1645-1650 painting)
* Moses Breaking the Tablets of the Law (1659 painting)
* Catholic Total Abstinence Union Fountain (1876)
* Moses (1962 sculpture)
* Moses (1968 sculptures, 3/3)

Media|

* The Ten Commandments (1923 film)
* The Ten Commandments (1956 film)
* Les Dix Commandements (2000 musical)
* The Ten Commandments (2004 musical)
* The Ten Commandments (2006 miniseries)
* The Ten (2007 film)
* The Ten Commandments (2007 film)
* I Am (2010 film)
* The Ten Commandments (2016 film)

Related|

* Joshua
* In Catholic theology
* Tabot
* Alternatives
* 613 commandments
* Seven Laws of Noah
* Great Commandment
* Golden Rule
* Ethics in the Bible

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