Plots(1)
Les Parents Terribles was adapted by director Jean Cocteau from his own stage play. Yvonne de Bray plays a manipulative, possessive mother, married to weakling Marcel Andre. At present, Yvonne is violently opposed to the impending marriage between her son Jean Marais to Josette Day. It gets more complicated than that: Day is Andre's mistress, who in turn is coveted by de Bray's sister Gabrielle Dorzat. These stunning revelations loosen the hold that De Bray has on her household. Her power gone, she seeks solace in self-destruction. Utilizing several of the original stage production's cast members, Les Parents Terrible was one of Cocteau's personal favorites (that's his voice as off-screen narrator); the property was remade in England as Intimate Relations (1953). (official distributor synopsis)
(more)Cast
Jean Marais
France
Best movies:
Fantomas (1964)
The Count of Monte Cristo (1954)
Fantomas Strikes Back (1965)
Josette Day
France
Best movies:
Beauty and the Beast (1946)
Marcel André
France
Best movies:
Beauty and the Beast (1946)
The Scheming Women (1954)
Hôtel du Nord (1938)
Gabrielle Dorziat
France
Best movies:
Monsieur Vincent (1947)
Judgment of the God (1952)
The Spies (1957)
Jean Cocteau
France
Best movies:
Orpheus (1950)
The Testament of Orpheus (1960)
Beauty and the Beast (1946)
Yvonne de Bray
France
Best movies:
The Eternal Return (1943)
Nous sommes tous des assassins (1952)
The Eagle with Two Heads (1948)