Swords of Blood [Cartouche]

Philippe de Brocca (director, screenwriter)
Raymond Voinquel (photographer)
Daniel Boulanger, Charles Spaak (screenwriters)
Jean-Paul Belmondo, Claudia Cardinale, Jess Hahn, Marcel Dalio (starring)

Paris: Filmsonor, 1962. Collection of 67 original single weight borderless film stills for the 1962 French-Italian film, here under the original French title, "Cartouche." Action sequences, men in military regalia, and romantically charged images of Belmondo and Cardinale, with most representing Belmondo either charming people or dueling with swords. Housed in original brown envelope, noted as "CARTOUCHE" on the flap. Numerical annotations in manuscript pencil on the versos. Also included are a few leaves of French press material, on stationery from the film's distributor, Cinedis.

A riveting Peplum (sword-and-sandal) swashbuckler set in 1700s France, where a gang member named Cartouche (Belmondo) forms his own band of knaves, deciding his former gang to be too unethical. He steals from the rich to give to the poor, enlists in the army to escape capture, and meets Venus (Cardinale), a gypsy prisoner who joins his new gang. Venus' love proves fatal, and Cartouche rolls her into a lake in a stolen carriage, vowing revenge, knowing it will likely lead him to the gallows.

Belmondo and Cardinale's interaction is palpable, but they would star in only two other films together, Mauro Balognini's "La viaccia" (1961), and José Giovanni's "Scoumoune" (1972).

Photos 6.75 x 9 inches. Very Good plus overall, with light curling, a few short creases, and a few slightly discolored. Press material corner-stapled and paper-clipped, Very Good plus overall.

Complete collation upon request.


[Book #143832]