60 years ago, this French saga of 5 films began and became a huge success at the box office

60 years ago, this French saga of 5 films began and became a huge success at the box office

On December 8, 1964, a film was released in theaters featuring an actor who at the time was more of a star in Italy than in France: Michel Mercier. He, who plays the main roles in Mario Bava’s films “The Three Faces of Fear” or “The Buccaneer of the Island”, turns out to be the main character of the film that will change his life and will have many sequels, Angelica, Marquis of Angels.

Almost 3 million entries!

Michel Mercier

Adapted from Anna Golon’s literary series, which then consisted of eight books, this first Angelique film was directed by Bernard Border. The latter succeeded with the three musketeers diptych worn by Gerard Barry (including 4.4 million), then the two adventures of Pardailian, always with an actor (3.2 million entries in total). Working on Angélique, which requires her knowledge of managing large budgets.

Michel Mercier plays Angelique Sance de Monteloupe, Robert Hossein plays the enigmatic Joffrey de Peyrac, Jean Rochefort the lawyer Desgres and Giuliano Gemma (an actor who has yet to break out with Italian westerns) Nicolas, “Angel’s” young love interest. The starting point is simple: Angelica loves Nicholas, but her father, due to financial difficulties, forces her to marry Geoffrey de Peyrac, a very rich nobleman, skilled in alchemy and wounded in the war.

The two characters have trouble getting to know each other, and when love is finally born, Joffrey is unjustly burned in a public square for witchcraft. The film ends with Angelica finding allies (including Nicolas) at Paris’ Door of Miracles, with a strong desire for revenge. Because yes, it was already planned to launch a second feature film if successful.

4 sequels have arrived!

With 2.95 million admissions, Angélique, Marquise de Angers seduced the public, and the same team very quickly turned around and released the following summer: Merveilleuse Angélique (1965). This episode lives up to the first opus, albeit with detours that are not always very happy – like this hotel opened by Angelique, but burned down a few minutes into the film. As for the intrigues in the Court of Wonders, they constantly delay the progress of Angelica’s revenge.

Sequel Problem : Poor Angelica

Sequel Problem : Poor Angelica

Three more episodes followed, more adventure, soft erotica and exotica, the best of which probably remains Angélique et le roy (1966). On the other hand, the plot of Angélique et le sultan (1967) drags on unnecessarily, while Angélique et le sultan (1968) copies (and clumsily) the aesthetics and music of Lawrence of Arabia, released six years earlier, before it becomes funny. Not to mention something interesting.

After this fifth episode and success, which still cannot be denied, Michel Mercier stops spending, tired of these hastily written scripts, his poor pay, despite the good income of the films and the treatment of his character. However, full of ambition, strength of character, courage and intelligence, Angelica eventually becomes nothing more than meat who is raped, whipped, kidnapped, auctioned and mistreated.

From an indomitable Angelique who suffers more from the action than she begins, the character loses power and therefore credibility, which only sets up the disappointment of loyal viewers.

For the curious, the rest of the series

Here, very briefly, is the continuation of Angelique’s adventures after the Marquis of Angels:

  • Merveilleuse Angélique (2.3 million). Angelica’s revenge begins, but the Court of Wonders reprimands her for her relationship with lawyer Degres, who has since become a police officer. After a confrontation between the bandits, Nicholas is killed and Angelica is on the run. Angelica opens a chocolate factory and plans to marry her cousin, the Marquis de Plessis-Belliers, to reconnect with the nobility. She changes her mind, but her cousin forces her hand, and the king himself marries her.
  • Angélique et le roy (2.1 million). Angelica loses her husband in the war, and the king is assigned a secret mission: to convince the Persian ambassador to sign a treaty with the French. She succeeds without any problems and the ambassador asks the king for Angelica’s hand in marriage. Colbert causes astonishment as he announces that he is the favorite of the king, Louis XIV, to save the young woman from this forced marriage! Jealousy puts Angelique’s life in danger and she finds herself denied access to the estate of her late husband, Geoffrey de Peyrac. The latter, who remarkably escaped his execution in the first film, writes to him to explain that he is alive but has let him live.
  • The Insatiable Angelica (1.9 million). Angelica searches for Joffrey and passes through Sardinia. His ship is attacked by a pirate named “The Rescuer” and he jumps into the water, unaware that the Rescuer is none other than Joffrey. Taken by another pirate, D’Escrainville, Angelica is taken to Crete to be sold in the slave market. She is bought there by a stranger sent by Joffrey and eventually finds her dead husband. Their romance does not last because Angelica is kidnapped by d’Escrainville.
  • Angelica and Sultan (1.78 million). D’Escrainville sells Angelica to the Sultan of Mycenae. She tries to kill him and is punished with a whip. The Sultan’s favorite also tries his life, but Angelica survives and escapes with two other prisoners. Joffrey meets the Sultan, but unfortunately arrives after escaping. The hunt for her lover resumes. In turn, the prisoners move to the desert, and only Angelica remains alive. As the Sultan’s troops prepare to capture him, he escapes and regains consciousness on Joffrey’s boat. Love reclaims its rights.

The saga would end in 1968 with this final episode, ending the saga on the big screen and leaving author Anna Golon to develop Angelique’s character on paper rather than on film. Whatever he thinks, Saga will allow him to present in his first opus an inspiring character who was at the forefront of one of the greatest popular successes of French cinema. So hats off to Angelica and hats off to Michelle!

Source: Allocine

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