Rhine Virgin

Rhine Virgin
Directed by	Gilles Grangier
Written by	Jacques Sigurd
Based on	La vierge du Rhin by Pierre Nord
Produced by	Evrard de Rouvre
Starring	Jean Gabin Nadia Gray Elina Labourdette
Cinematography	Marc Fossard
Edited by	Paul Cayatte
Music by	Joseph Kosma
Production company	Films Véga
Distributed by	La Société des Films Sirius
Release date	13 November 1953 (1953-11-13)
Running time	82 minutes
Country	France
Language	French

Rhine Virgin (French: La vierge du Rhin) is a 1953 French crime drama film directed by Gilles Grangier and starring Jean Gabin, Nadia Gray and Elina Labourdette. The film's sets were designed by the art directors Jacques Colombier and Jean André. The film was shot at the Billancourt Studios in Paris and on location along the River Rhine, including around Strasbourg. It was part of a string of post-war films in which Gabin plays a tragic lover.

Synopsis

During the Fall of France in 1940 during the Second World War Jacques Ledru is reported missing in action. His wife Geneviève has taken over his Strasbourg-based river transport company on the River Rhine and married one of his associates. Returning after the war under an assumed name, Ledru gets work on the barge La vierge du Rhin. He uncovers the conspiracy against him by his former wife and her lover who are now using the company for smuggling operations. He is assisted by Maria, the daughter of the vessel's captain.

Cast

• Jean Gabin as Jacques Ledru/Martin Schmidt
• Nadia Gray as Maria Meister
• Elina Labourdette as Geneviève Labbé
• Andrée Clément as Anna Berg
• Olivier Hussenot as Meister
• Albert Dinan as Le commissaire Guérin
• Claude Vernier as Pietr
• Renaud Mary as Maurice Labbé
• Virginie Vitry as Secretary
• Germain Muller as Un complice de Pietr

Bibliography

• Harriss, Joseph. Jean Gabin: The Actor Who Was France. McFarland, 2018.
• Walker-Morrison, Deborah. Classic French Noir: Gender and the Cinema of Fatal Desire. Bloomsbury Publishing, 2020.

External links

• Rhine Virgin at IMDb