Montparnasse 19

Not particularly stunning but very effective and rather affecting film roughly based on the last years of the life of Modigliani directed by Jaques Becker following the death of Max Ophuls who had already done much preparation. That early work included the recruiting of glamour boy of the time, Gerard Phillipe. He did not have the physical presence of the painter, nor was he Italian but he was considered good looking and I feel carried off the role of the vulnerable, violent and volatile painter well enough. Lilli Palmer and Anouk Aimee excels as his mistress and lover respectively with Lino Ventura turning in a wonderful small but key performance as a rather state dealer. The streets and buildings of Paris and Nice are depicted well although much is filmed in the studio and although Becker is to be congratulated to bring this film in in difficult circumstances ( the writer took him to court and Ophul's death hung over proceedings) it is not typical of his output.