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Born in a French prison in 1775, François Eugène Vidocq becomes a professional thief and is later appointed chief of Parisian police.Born in a French prison in 1775, François Eugène Vidocq becomes a professional thief and is later appointed chief of Parisian police.Born in a French prison in 1775, François Eugène Vidocq becomes a professional thief and is later appointed chief of Parisian police.
Gisela Werbisek
- Aunt Ernestine
- (as Gisella Werbiseck)
Barbara Bates
- Girl by Pool
- (uncredited)
George Bruggeman
- Stage Show Spectator
- (uncredited)
- Director
- Writers
- All cast & crew
- Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaThe real Francois-Eugene Vidocq, 1775 to 1857, was born and died in Paris. He was an adventurer and a brash youth who spent time in frequent jail sentences, mostly for petty thefts. He served admirably in the army and fought in early battles of the Revolutionary Wars in 1792. He was hired by the government in 1809 for his experience and knowledge of crime, and helped create the security police (police de surete) in France. In 1832 he was fired for allegedly planning a theft, and he set up a private police agency. That became the model for modern private detective firms. In later life, Vidocq published two volumes of his memoirs. According to the Encyclopedia Britannica, he was friends with several leading authors of the day - Hugo, Balzac, Dumas and others.
- GoofsVidocq is seen reading the memoirs of Casanova at the time of Napoleon's Egyptian campaign (1798-1801). The memoirs were not published until 1822.
- Quotes
Eugéne François Vidocq: Sometimes the chains of matrimony are so heavy they have to be carried by three.
- Crazy credits[prologue] Vidocq, Eugene Francois, born 1775, spent the first thirty years of his life in every kind of villainy, probably as a preparation for the work of detecting criminals which was to occupy the remainder of his life. He published two volumes of what purported to be the true history of his adventurous career...Encyclopedia Britannica.
- ConnectionsReferenced in Vidocq (2001)
Featured review
reasonably diverting curiosity held together by Sanders
George Sanders as Eugene Francois Vidocq, a clever French crook (and a very flimsy representation of the amazing real-life template), is both the lead actor and narrator of this film in which he neatly swindles his way from a lowly prison cell to the top of French society delivering a bounty of aphorisms along the way. The real-life Vidocq began as a rough-and- tumble child criminal and ended up a government minister.
Sanders basically delivers the same polished performance seen in numerous other films, from "Man Hunt" (1941), through "The Picture of Dorian Gray" (1945) and "All About Eve" (1950): the cool, cultivated, continental, dry wit with just the right suggestion of the animal beneath. Carole Landis, in what may be her finest role, is both funny and chilling as a self-centered show girl who blatantly uses her beauty to catch wealthy men. Signe Hasso (who looks distractingly like Margaret Sullavan) plays the daughter of the minister of police; she falls in love with Sanders but is as lifeless and damp here as she is vivacious and crackling in "The House on 92nd Street," made the year before.
The film is obviously 100% studio made, with painted backdrops to represent the French countryside. But since scenery is not the point here, this drawback can be overlooked. It's an unusual film about an extraordinary man, here reduced to a sort of Sherlock Holmes who strides both sides of the law.
Sanders basically delivers the same polished performance seen in numerous other films, from "Man Hunt" (1941), through "The Picture of Dorian Gray" (1945) and "All About Eve" (1950): the cool, cultivated, continental, dry wit with just the right suggestion of the animal beneath. Carole Landis, in what may be her finest role, is both funny and chilling as a self-centered show girl who blatantly uses her beauty to catch wealthy men. Signe Hasso (who looks distractingly like Margaret Sullavan) plays the daughter of the minister of police; she falls in love with Sanders but is as lifeless and damp here as she is vivacious and crackling in "The House on 92nd Street," made the year before.
The film is obviously 100% studio made, with painted backdrops to represent the French countryside. But since scenery is not the point here, this drawback can be overlooked. It's an unusual film about an extraordinary man, here reduced to a sort of Sherlock Holmes who strides both sides of the law.
helpful•65
- mukava991
- Dec 27, 2010
- How long is A Scandal in Paris?Powered by Alexa
Details
- Runtime1 hour 40 minutes
- Color
- Aspect ratio
- 1.37 : 1
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