Amok (1934)

Based on a Stefan Zweig short story,the movie looks like an extravaganza,a delirious melodrama with an ending as romantic as it can be ."There won't be any autopsy" the doctor said.

Marcelle Chantal was par excellence the heroine of the thirties melodramas (particularly Marcel L'Herbier) ,however her playing seems old-fashioned today ,at least to French eyes ;Jean Yonnel too lacks madness,passion and rage ("Amok" = tropical disease ,some kind of rabies ) The opening,in a studio jungle ,compares favorably with that of Wyler's "the letter" ;the fever in the natives' frenetic dance is masterfully directed ;but the scenes between the heroine and her lover ,or the doctor ,are not always convincing.In his follow-up ,"La Dame De Pique",Ozep had an actor ,Pierre Blanchar ,who ,in spite of what the French critics wrote,gave a truly feverish mad performance .

In a small part ,Jean Servais appears in the ball scene ;Inkjinoff plays the chauffeur ,an almost silent part :he 's best remembered in Duvivier's 'La Tete D'Un Homme" .

A remake -among many others- was made in 1993 by Joel Forges and ,in spite of Fanny Ardant as the unfaithful wife ,is looked by pretty much as a failure.