Police Python 357
1976 film
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Police Python 357 (also known as The Case Against Ferro) is a 1976 French crime-thriller film written and directed by Alain Corneau.[2][3] It is partially an adaptation of the storyline of Kenneth Fearing's 1946 novel, The Big Clock along with childhood experiences by Corneau.
- Alain Corneau
- Daniel Boulanger[1]
- Alain Corneau
- Daniel Boulanger[1]
| Police Python 357 | |
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| Directed by | Alain Corneau |
| Screenplay by |
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| Story by |
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| Based on | |
| Produced by | Albina du Boisrouvray |
| Starring | |
| Cinematography | Étienne Becker[1] |
| Edited by | Marie-Josèphe Yoyotte[1] |
| Music by | Georges Delerue[1] |
Production companies |
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| Distributed by | Les Films La Boëtie |
Release dates |
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Running time | 125 minutes[1] |
| Countries |
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| Language | French |
Plot
Cast
- Yves Montand as Inspector Marc Ferrot
- Simone Signoret as Thérèse Ganay
- François Périer as Police Commissioner Ganay
- Mathieu Carrière as Inspector Ménard
- Stefania Sandrelli as Sylvia Leopardi
- Vadim Glowna as Inspector Acadie
- Claude Bertrand as Merchant of Pigs
- Serge Marquand as "The Red"
Production
For his second film after France société anonyme , which a commercially unsuccessful, director Alain Corneau said to himself that he had to ask "What is that [I] really like about cinema?" and said that he loved film noir by Fritz Lang, Don Siegel and American b-movies and wanted to make a detective film.[1] Corneau submitted his idea to producer Albina de Boisrouvray that was part based on a personal memory of his youth and part on Kenneth Fearing's novel The Big Clock. The producer suggested he teamup with playight and poet Daniel Boulganger.[1] The film was shot and set in Orléans.[4]
Police Python 357 was a international co-production between France and West Germany. It was 70% funded by the Paris based Albina Productions and 30% funded by the Munich based TIT Film-produktion.[5][1]
Release
Police Python 357 was released in France on March 31, 1976.[1] The authors of French Thrillers of the 1970s: Volume I, Crime Films (2026) described it as being successful at the French box office, with over 1,464,000 spectators in France.[6]
It was released in West Germany on September 9, 1976 as Im tödlichen Kreis.[1] It was released in Los Angeles' international film festival; the Filmex Film Festival; as Police Python 357 on March 19, 1977.[1][7] It was released in Santa Cruz on December 21, 1978 as Police Python while in Miami in December 21, 1979, it was re-titled The Case Against Ferro.[1]
Reception
Police Python 357 won a César Award for Best Editing.[7]
