The Cat

The chief reason for watching this otherwise heavy-handed effort from writer-director Pierre Granier-Deferre is to witness the star turns of aging French film veterans Jean Gabin and Simone Signoret. Based on Georges Simenon's psychological novel, the film studies the deteriorating relationship between Gabin and Signoret. Once very much in love, they have grown to hate each other, the evil turn in their romance symbolized by Signoret's killing of Gabin's cat. Gabin leaves Signoret, and though he eventually returns to their decrepit house on the edge of Paris, they stop speaking and do their best to make each other miserable. When Signoret dies, however, Gabin is le...