• FILM HISTORY' •

few days under the direction of the by Jean-Claude Marineau famed .,, 6 One should now ask whether this In 1952 Alfred Hitchcock shot a film in shoot on Que becois soil would bring the It Hitchcock's city something other than additional Quebec-City. was produced by Warner Bl'Os. and was e ntitled I Confess. The tourist prestige. Several questions come film rather quickly got lost in a critical to mind : Did Warners employ local oblivion from which it emerges occa­ actors and technicians'? If so, what sionally in the context of general discus­ positions did they hold ? Reading the s ions of Hitchcock's oeuvre. It's an credits suggest a simple answer: a few inte resting film but hardly a classic like Quebec shoot Quebecois were hired, but in minor Psycho, North By Northwest or The positions. Evidently, eve n on a foreign Birds.' shoot, Hollywood is Hollywood, with all And yet it's a film worth looking at the pro tectionist measures that this from one very specific perspective : that , MONDIALE implies.' Let's look at the actors first. All the of a Hollywood shoot abroad - in this PRE MI ERE ". AU' l "N<"" l case, Quebec- and whose subject entails Quebecois al'e in secondary roles. avila a close relationship to the production Legare plays the lawyer Vilette, the t----\ context, namely Catholic Que bec of the tARtlER £1 (AP\lO ... victim of the murder that takes place at 1950s. By following certain threads in the beginning of the film. He reappears the film that seem ed interesting to me, I several times throughout the film in saw around I Confess the eme rge nce of flash-back sequences, but his role is a pattern of relationships with the really a pretext, allowing for the unravel­ Que becois milie u that appeared worth ling of the plot, rather than being a true e xploring furthe r. ac tors pe rformance. Then there is Gilles The title itself indicates an initial Pelle ti er (see boxl who plays the role of approach : dubbed La Loi du silence in Fathe r Be noit, a distracted young semi­ Fre nc h, the film tells the storv of a priest narian, more preoccupied with theolo­ IMo ntgomerv Clift ) who, under the gical questio ns and his bicycle ' than secre t of the confessionaL cannot reveal with murde r stories. He appears in his own sacris tan's confession to having seve ral brief scenes, nearly alwa\'s murdered someone. Under suspicion of accompa ni ed by his bicycle; his role having committed the murder, the pdest has an e pisodic comic function and that finds himself in an untenable position, is all. He is, as it were, p a rt of the furni­ caught between his sacred and civic ture in the presbytery where Father duties. Michae l. the priest at the center of the The script of the film was based on dl'ama, li ves. Charles A ndre, another Paul Anthe lme's play, Nos deu,\: cons­ Que becois actor, has a similar role, as a cie nces, writte n in 1902, and for which supe rnllme ry in the pl'esbyte ry. Finally, Hitchcock had purchased the adaptation there's the young Carme n Gingras who rig hts.2 plays a little girl whom the inspectors Hitchcock was Catholic fro m Irish intelTogate as a witness to the murder­ descent. Of his l'ootS he recalle d : "Ours er's fli ght o n the night of the crime. She was a Catholic family, and in England, onl~ ' appears in one scene. Thus all the you see, this is in itself an eccentricity. I local actors have minor roles, and fur­ had a strict, re li gious upbringing .. I thermore speak only in English'" don' t think I can be labeled a Catholic The principal roles are held by Holly­ artist, but it mav be that one's early wood or fore ign actors : Montgomery upbringing influe nces a m a n's life and Clift in the key role of Father Michael. guides his instincts. '" Anne Ba xte r as Ruth GranEifort. the Be that as it m ay, Quebec vvas the loca­ woman with whom Father Michael had tion selected fo r the I Confess sh oot. a Jiaison be fore becoming a priest and Le t's look rapidly at the historical con­ who is now married to the premier of tex t tha t situa tes this choice. If w e take Que bec I Pie rre Grandfort, played by as e xa mples som e of the Que becois Roge r Dannl I And the re's fi lms s hot h e re a t the sam e time, the as police ins pector Larue in charge of m ere reading of the titles offers in te rest­ the investi gation, and Otto Hasse as the ing indicati o ns of the kinds of the m es sacristan a nd true murde rer . the n being treated : Un Homme et son Turning now tq the tec hnicians, I've p e che 119481 ; Le Cure de village 11 949 1 : only been able to trace two local partici­ La Petite Aurore, I'enfalll martyre pants, the shoot's police consultant, ins­ 11951 1 , L'£sprit du mal 11953 1. To be pectOl' Oscar Tang uay, and Father Paul sure, I' ve selected these titles because La Couline d esignatetl in the credits as thel' point in the direction I w is h to "technical consultant." I wondered unde rline : the ke v position of re li gio us what that title meant, i.ll1d getting in the matics in the Q ue becoi s cine ma of touch with Father La Couline helped the time. It w o u ld not be true to say tha t clarify th is. films at the time o nly dealt w ith these He 'told m e that he had b een hired by them es, bllllhe presence of such the mes Warne r Bros. for six weeks, with the job is important to bea r in mind 4 of reading the script and removing from Que bec, a t the b ~ginnin g of the '50s, it all aspe cts that risked not jibing with w as still a stro nglv rural societ\'. Maurice the realit~ ' of ecclesiastical functions in Dup lessis w as at th e h eight of h is reign, Quebec, or that simply risked sbocking a nd of course the c hurc h h eld p r ide of religious authorities. " I had absolute p lace in the orie nta tion of s piritual Jife. authority ove r the script," he explained. All these facts seem to justify the So it was that a Quebecois priest, with a ch oice of Que bec as the locatio n for I the source 01 an importa nt religious ico­ 1948, alJowing for reciproca l arrange­ doctorate in theology, had the last word Con fe ss. If one adds to this the fact that nography 1for it s c hurc hes in partic ula r l me nts on the leve l of cinemaS on the script. One can draw two conclu­ s h o~t in g in Canad a offered economic a nd tha t furthermore French was spoken, So th e film got underwav in the s um­ sions from this. Firstly, that Warner ad vantages, tha t the citl' of Que bec w as as in Anthelme's play, cOI1\'e rging these me r of 1952 as Le Soleil, the most Bros. and Hitchcock took pains to ele m e nts made it possible to shoot the important local daily, noted on p age authent icate the clerical reality of the film h e re. Furthermore, the Can C! dian • one: " Hi s Worship m ayor Lucien Borne cenll'al character with that of the times. Jean-Claude l\tarineau is doinggraduate Co-o pe ration Pro ject - an e nte nte be­ was present this mOl'l1ing for the first And secondly, though perhaps more work in film studies at Concordia Uni­ tween the Majors and the Canadian takes of the film I Confess that Warner importantly, they wanted to avoid cuts versity in MontreaL gove rnment - had been in effect since Bros. is producing ip our city in the next in the film by the Censor Bureau,

18/ Cinema Canada - March 1985 • FILM HISTORY • In addition to his work on the script, These cuts amount to 235 feet of film, or playas a consultant for the ~ hurch . Film critics made no mention of the Father La CouIine acted as an obsel\ler about 2 minutes 30 seconds' duration. I To the best of my knowledge, no inc ide nt. at least not in published news­ on the major portion of the Quebec was unable to learn from the Bureau member of the clergy sat on the Censor pa per commentaries in the days after shoot. Here too he could intervene if he exactly what portions were cut. Board at the time, though the notion of a the premiere. The only distant reference felt it necessary. He tells this anecdote Father La Couline, who saw the film convergence of views and interests to the incide nt is in the account pub­ about shooting the film's love scene at on its release in 1953,9 says that the cuts between the two institutions seems li s hed in Le 501eil, Feb. 13 , 1953, on the Saint-Tite-des-Caps. In his opinion, were made where explicitly generally accepted. morrow of the event: " Very laconically, and Anne Baxter says she had loved Father Michael before Finally, Father La Couline, who was Mr. Hitchcock limited himself to repeat­ were kissing with too much ardour, so his acceptance into the priesthood. He present at the premiere, confirms Hitch­ ing his thanks and hoping that his hosts he intervened: "I had them begin the insists, however, that "essentially, the cock's anger. " He was furious," adding would not reproach him for having kiss again because it lasted too long. The cuts took nothing from the film," and the that. in subsequent days, Hitchcock was taken too many liberties with the geo­ second take was also too long. Finally probable reason for the censorship was to have met Quebec's Cardinal Roy and graphy of their city I" Anne Baxter said to me: 'Father La to show the clergy of the time that the the meeting was cancelled as a result of It would be worthwhile to undertake Couline, if you could see how we kiss in Censor Bureau had the interests of the the" incident." Father La CouIine adds a more systematic study of press-cover­ Hollywood .. : Well, the kiss wasn't cut !" Quebec church at heaJ;'t. This is still a that Hitchcock's anger was not directed age of the phenomena of film censorship According to Father La Couline, in the matter of interpretation, in part since towards the Church, but towards those at the time. This would allow an even­ original scenario the priest played by we cannot compare the original print responsible for the cuts, namely the tual assessment of the degree of rela­ Clift goes to the police and reveals the with the cut version, and secondly as Censor Board. One can, of course, take a tionship between the powers of the murderer's confession so as to dispell this information comes primarily from director's anger at cuts in his film any press, the clergy and the government. the suspicions weighing upon him. The the priest who worked on the screen- number of ways ... But what becomes particularly clear only important alteration Father La in the story surrounding this shoot is the Couline ordered made was not to have weight of the Quebec Church at the time the priest reveal the confession to the in cinematic matters. For it is perhaps police. It is likely that Hitchcock took the the Church, in the last instance, that comment into account since, in the film, e merges as the main local intervenor in it is not Father Michael who reveals the the film I Confess. As [01' the rest of the truth, but Alma (Dolly Haas who plays) story, both Hitchcock and Warner Bros the wife of the murderer. would keep it to themselves. • To conclude on the contributions of (Translated by AJichael Dorland) the Quebecois to the film, one has to admit that these were mainly in the category of service personnel rather Notes than as significant elements in the pro­ duction, the only possible exception 1 / Hitchcock goes so far as to sav 111 his being the work of Father La Couline, a inten'iew by Truffaut tha t "I\'e shouldn't priest. In this, Hollywood remained true have made the pic ture," in Fran<;ois Truffaut to its own protectionist tradition. Hitchcock, Touc hs tone Books, ,\e\\ York. 1967, p. 15 1. 2/ " Louis Verneuil came along \\'ith this Reaction to the film in Quebec play, and I guess he mus t have done a good sales job, because I uought it I", ibid. p . 148. If the production did not lend itself to a 3/ Hitchcock as quote d in Donald Spoto, The strong Quebec participation, Quebec Dark Side of Genius: The Life of .1lfred censorship, on the other hand, did leave • Gi ll es Pelletier, left, as Father Benoit in I Confess Hitchcock, Ballantine Books, New York, 1983, its mark on the film. In an interview, p.13. Gilles Pelletier told me the following 4/ For a detailed discussion of this period in story: Gilles Pelletier Quebec cinema, see Christiane Tremblay· "The film's opening occurred in full Daviault. Un cinema orphelin: St,.uctures style. There was a reception at the mentales et sociales du cinema quebecois (1942-1953) , Quebeci Amerique, Mon trea I, Mount Royal hotel. Hitchcock had been Like a good horse 1981, passim. so nice with us, with everyone. He made 5/ The Canadian Co-operative Proiect "sera a little speech saluting the participa­ Did you do a lot of work in film the lumberjack film because he effectif environ di~ ans. On fixe cinq objectifs tion of the French-Canadian actors, and before playing the role of Father wanted to work with (Iocali actors. a cetle entente: 11 Obtenir plus de produc­ ·singling me out in particular. He was Benoit in I Confess? tions americaines au Canada. 21 Achat de charming. I was playing on-stage that Gilles Pelletier: At the time I was 50 you went to HolI,Ylvood for the plus de films canadiens sur Ie marche ameri­ night, so I didn't see the film. I went to doing mainly theatre and radio. I had interiors? cain. 31 Donner une chance au capital cana­ the reception afterwards. When I arrived, begun in 1945. I had worked on Gilles Pelletier: Yes, I was there die n de p a rticiper aux productions ameri· he turned his back to me. I learned later several semi-documentaries, espe­ three weeks and I worked four days. caines. 41 Promouvoir Ie tourisme americain vers Ie Canada. 51 Presentation d 'i nformations that the film had been cut - massacred th~ The rest of the time I was on stand­ cially for Crawley Films, Ottawa generales au s ujet du Canada dans des films by the censorship the night of the pre­ production company, shot gene­ by. They weren't paying me much, so presentes aux USA. ,\u total. on peut constater miere. rally in English. I did many voice­ they could keep me on-hand. But que Ie gouve rneme nt canadien ne s' interessa "And yet he had paid, precisely to overs for them in French. I also acted everything was very organized. It qu'au,\ objectifs 4 e t 5," Yves Lever &. Pi erre avoid that (referring to Father La Cou­ in some films - one in Abitibi on the was a 90-day shoot. At one point, they Pageau, Cinemas canadien et quebecois, line's work on the screenplay). So after mines, another at Kitimat in B.C. on were half-a-day behind schedule. It notes his toriques, Presses du College ,\hunt­ that, Quebec and the Quebecois for hydro-electric power. So I worked was nearly a tragedy ; people were sic, Montrea l. 1977, p. 30. ,\I so Jl. laynard Col­ lins, "Co-opera tion, Hollvwood and Ho\V e ," him .. . He was interviewed on CBC. He quite a bit for them, among other saying, "We won't pick it up I" Those Cinema Canada No . 56, June /Juh' 1979, pp. was asked what he thought of this things in a film on lumberjacks that al'e money people, the studios, They 34-36. censorship business - the English took was a mixture of documentary and treat you well, but it's like a good 6 / Le Soleil, Queuec, Au g. 21. 1952, front advantage of this somewhat in order to feature that employed actors. horse, you have to take care of it. page. show how ridiculous we were - and he They come to get you in a limous ine 7/ .\nother int e resting aspect to e~p l ore had this memorable phrase, that I find And how were you approached for I at the airport. they pay you a little \\'ould be the S1 's tems of dis tribution a nd very beautiful (here Pelletier imitates Confess? hotel-suite so you can stay easy. They exhibitio n of film s in Quebec. The case of I Hitchcock's tone and slow delivery) : Gilles Pelletier: Hitchcock had treat you well, but don't be la te in the Confess seem s t"pical : the pre mie re in '" All I can say is that there will be one seen me in one of the films I did for morning or vou'll h ear about it I Que bec Citv was h e ld at the Capitol T Ilt'a tre. version of I Confess for the province of Crawley, the one where I played a I was payed by shooting day. When then p a rt of the Famous Plavers cha in domin­ Quebec, and another version for the rest lumberjack. He had the film screened. I got my pay I noticed theid forgotten ated hI' Ame ri can inte rests. Todav, the Ca pi­ tol is lip for sale .. of the world !' Hitchcock was proud and I didn' t know that he'd seen it. When Saturday and Sunday. ";\h, we forgot 8/ The few w o rds of FI'ench s poke n in the vain. That this had been done to him by we met he looked at me (I had a Saturday," said the clerk. They tried, 111m are mainlv of the " bonjo llr" and " merci" some asshole from the Censor Board, brush-cull and he said: "Can you you see. For the Sunday work [ didn't \'arie tv.. '1 brief seque nce a t the I\a ti onal you know .. . I mean, it was almost a U.S./ keep that cut?" So I said, yes, yes. get paid right away. He told me, A5semblv reneets a SImilar inte rest : the Canada diplomatic incident !" " You' re not alJowed to work on a e.\change that is filmed takes place entire '" All things in proportion, Pelletier's That's the haircut you have in the Sunday, you're Catholic." Hut [ had in Eng li sh. account is replete with interesting film ... worked I FinalJ\' thev did pav m e for 9/ He h a d recei\'ed special pe rmission from information, and suggested a direction Gilles Pelletier: Yes, that's right. the Sunday. the archdiocese to ass ist a t the film 's pre­ miere. I\'ha t ma kes this note\\'orthy is the for further research. At the Bureau de He then said: " Will you please wear fd"t th a t usualII' priests \\'ere not a llo\Ved to surveillance du cinema du Quebec this?" and gave me his glasses. So I Jean-Claude Marineau • go to film s, pla\'5, etc , the reason being. (formerly the Censor Bureau), available put on the glasses. "Fine, fine. That's according to Father La Couline , that it would data confirms that cuts were made to perfect, Mr. Pelletier." He looked at rell ect poorl\' o n the Churc h tha t a priest h ad the film. The Bureau made nine cuts me, then he looked at Paul L' Anglais,~ the m eans to pal' for such entertainments before giving the film a visa on Feb. 6, then he began to laugh. I learned • Radio producer in the '308, the n latl'r in w il e n the poorest p arishioners themselves 1953, six days before the premiere. later, in Hollywood, that he'd screened rilnllnaldng \\'ith Quehec Pl'Oliuctions. could no \.

March 1985 - Cinema Canada/19