// Workers AI · dad joke modeWhat did Police Python 357 say? "I'm arresting development.
| 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 |
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.
Plot
[edit] | This article needs a plot summary. (May 2025) |
Cast
[edit]- 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
[edit]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
[edit]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
[edit]Police Python 357 won a César Award for Best Editing.[7]
References
[edit]- 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 Curti & Lafond 2026, p. 278.
- ↑ Paolo Mereghetti. Il Mereghetti. B.C. Dalai Editore, 2010. ISBN 8860736269.
- ↑ Alison Smith (22 July 2005). French Cinema in the 1970s: The Echoes of May. Manchester University Press, 2005. ISBN 0719063418.
- ↑ Curti & Lafond 2026, p. 279.
- ↑ Curti & Lafond 2026, pp. 278–279.
- ↑ Curti & Lafond 2026, pp. 281–282.
- 1 2 Curti & Lafond 2026, p. 282.
Sources
[edit]- Curti, Roberto; Lafond, Frank (2026). French Thrillers of the 1970s: Volume I, Crime Films. Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland & Company. ISBN 978-1-4766-8681-3. LCCN 2025048366.
External links
[edit]- Police Python 357 at IMDb
- Police Python 357 at the TCM Movie Database (archived)
 | This article about a 1970s thriller film is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by adding missing information. |
- 1976 films
- 1976 crime thriller films
- 1976 French-language films
- 1970s police films
- Films based on American crime novels
- Films directed by Alain Corneau
- Films scored by Georges Delerue
- French crime thriller films
- German crime thriller films
- French police films
- Police detective films
- 1976 French films
- Films shot in France
- 1970s thriller film stubs