A second-rate boarding school in Saint-Cloud, Hauts-de-Seine, in the Paris metropolitan area, is run by the tyrannical and cruel Michel Delassalle. The school is owned, though, by Delassalle's teacher wife, the frail Christina, an

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• Simone Signoret as Nicole Horner
• Véra Clouzot as Christina Delassalle
• Paul Meurisse as Michel Delassalle

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Writing
It was Clouzot's wife Vera who drew his attention to the Boileau-Narcejac novel. Clouzot read it through the

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The film created a sensation upon its original release, and was a success at the box office with 3,674,380 admissions in France alone. It has often been likened to the films of Alfred Hitchcock; some sources say that Alfred Hitchcock missed out on purchasing the

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Bosley Crowther gave the film an enthusiastic review in The New York Times, calling it "one of the dandiest mystery dramas that has shown here" and "a pip of a murder thriller,

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• 1954: Louis Delluc Prize - Best Film
• 1955: New York Film Critics Circle Awards - Best Foreign Film

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The film gained additional press when, only five years after its release, Véra Clouzot died of a heart attack, aged 46, somewhat mirroring her

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