Obsession

Not to be confused with Douglas Sirk’s blockbuster Magnificent Obsession released the same year, Jean Delannoy’s Obsession, his first color film, combines circus antics, vibrant vistas, and psychological intrigue shot in a Hitchcockian style. As much as we can indeed picture Grace Kelly and Cary Grant in the lead roles, Michèle Morgan and Raf Vallone star as Hélène and Aldo Giovanni, popular trapeze artists (the actors performed many of their own moves) whose act and marriage are jeopardized when Aldo sustains an injury that keeps him off the bars for a while. Based on a short story by Cornell Woolrich, we know going in that much of the tension will be psychological: not only does Aldo confide in Hélène a murderous secret from his past but he reacts with jealous rage when the circus hires his replacement, Alexandre Buisson (Jean Gaven), who’s drawn into a waterfront fistfight with Aldo right before turning up dead (the fight sequence is beautifully filmed). As Inspector Chardin (Robert Dalban) leads the murder investigation, Hélène becomes increasingly certain that Aldo is the killer and increasingly guilty about hiding that suspicion from the police, especially when circus dog trainer Louis Bernardin (Olivier Hussenot) is arrested, convicted, and sentenced to death for the crime. Further plot twists ensue. Delannoy and crew craft gorgeous compositions using the circus ring (especially when it’s empty), the lumberyard docks at night with ships in the distance, the streets nearby with their muted colors and storybook quality, the courtroom suddenly lit like a circus with a drumroll anticipating the verdict as it might a trapeze catch high above.