Le Loup des Malveneur / The Wolf of the Malveneurs (1943)

Monique Valory is hired by the Malveneurs as a governess to young Genevieve. The Malveneurs are quite a peculiar family and, when the master of the house Reginald disappears, Monique decides to investigate.

Director: Guillaume Radot
Cast: Madeleine Sologne, Pierre Renoir, Gabrielle Dorziat, Michel Marsay, Marie Olinska, Marcelle Geniat, Louis Salou, Yves Furet, Jo Dervo, Henri Charrett, Bijou, Yolanda Fax, Eliane Gardaire




IMDb

Another movie of the Occupation days.There are harsh words said of this film ,although it retains a small cult among horror and fantasy buffs.First of all ,it's an escapism movie,like so many others in occupied country: "Les Visiteurs du Soir" ,although it did include veiled hints at the country's plight ,was an escapism movie;so was "L'Eternel Retour" which also featured Madeleine Sologne.

Hindsight displays a certain charm:the director is not Marcel Carne or Jean Delannoy/Jean Cocteau ,but he can create an atmosphere.He is abetted by a good cast .More than the young leads ( Madeleine Sologne and Michel Marsay,whose career was short-lived),it's the old guard who saves the film:Gabrielle Dorziat is as excellent as ever,Pierre REnoir is sinister-looking,Marcelle Geniat is no longer the nice old lady but a deaf and dumb disturbing servant.

There's a curse on the Malveneur family.There's a black legend which tells that one of their ancestors sold his soul to the devil and he was cursed: man by day ,wolf by night.These doomed aristocrats were hunters ,hence their name (Malveneur = evil venerer).But it also rhymes with "Malheur".

The Last of the Malveneur is a scientist who carries out strange experiments on …nobody knows exactly what the does in the subterranean.Up comes a governess who 's got to take care of the master's daughter.The wife has a heart condition ,her sister-in-law is a masculine authoritarian lady .And nights in the old castle are not exactly peaceful.

Based on Conan Doyle's "Hound Of Baskerville pattern,the script lacks focus and the writers can spare 2 or 3 contradictions:for instance,the Malveneur are outcast,they must not be buried in the cemetery ,a consecrated place;however they (or at least the sister-in-law and her niece) go to church on Sunday! There's a laudable attempt to link the legend with the last of the Malveneur's fate and ,all in all,it's not that much bad after all.
~ dbdumonteil