The Heir: The alternate ending of this film with Belmondo infuriated the director

The heiran underrated Belmondo

In 1973, based on a screenplay written together with Jacques Lanzmann, Philippe Labro directed The heir. For this thriller which explores the relationships between political, media and industrial power in 1970s France, he entrusts the protagonist role to Jean-Paul Belmondo. He was then at the peak of his career, enjoying a series of great successes with the public. In this glorious decade for the actor, among Borsalino (1970), The robbery (1971) e Fear in the city (1975), The heir it is therefore often and unfairly relegated to the background.

Daddy’s son and renowned playboy, Barthélémy “Bart” Cordell (Jean-Paul Belmondo) finds himself at the head of a veritable empire after the death of his parents. Not exactly prepared to be a businessman, Cordell will have to prove his worth by facing leaders who don’t want him at the helm of the great press and industry group. Trapped, “Bart” decides to investigate to find out who wants to hurt him, and will discover that the death of his parents may not be accidental…

A success, and a “shameful” alternative ending.

Upon his exit, The heirwith its history close to that of Long winch – the character is developed by Jean Van Hamme starting in 1973 -, is a commercial success beyond 2 million viewers. A “normal” box office performance for Jean-Paul Belmondo, but notable in that the actor is – a little – wiser than usual, if we compare the film, for example, with The magnificentpublished the same year. The heir was then well received by the press, who praised a controlled and tense thriller, “American style“.

There is an alternative ending to The heir, which completely changes the ending of the film. In the original ending of The heir, as we discovered at the cinema, Barthélémy Cordell is shot in the final moments and succumbs to his wounds. Another ending has been changed (video below), in which Barthélémy is actually wounded by bullets, but nevertheless survives his wounds, opening his eyes and smiling.

The director very angry with this alternative ending

This alternative ending, which he was initially unaware of, comes to fruition Philippe Labro furious. He explained her feeling in 2001:

“I didn’t know it, but if it exists, this alternate ending is a shame. I was the one who signed this film, from A to Z, down to the details of the setting, full of my objects, and I can tell you that I would NEVER have wanted to make another ending. Someone must have recovered, I don’t know how, from the scenes and found a scene in which Jean-Paul opened his eyes. Of course he reopened them before the camera was cut! I never had any doubts that Bart Cordell had to die at the end of my film. (…)

This was the intention of “The Heir”, I wanted to show the tragic death of a hero in all its glory, modeling his assassination on that of Lee Harvey Oswald by Jack Ruby. (…) In short, changing the ending of my film, in some ways, is the work of a forger. Whoever did this had no right to touch my film.”

Source: Cine Serie

Ray

Ray Ortiz is a journalist at Gossipify, known for his coverage of trending news and current events. He is committed to providing readers with accurate and unbiased reporting, and is respected for his ability to keep readers informed on the latest news and issues.