Roger La Honte

This one is generally looked upon as the best version of the old-fashioned melodrama by Jules Mary.Riccardo Freda,who was mainly known for his horror movies,tried also his hand at spy thrillers in the wake of James Bond ("Coplan Ouvre Le Feu à Mexico") ,and had a penchant for old French melodramas (before "Roger la Honte" ,he redid "Les Deux Orphelines " -D.W.GRiffith's "orphans of the storm-. Georges Géret replaces Lucien Coedel and Irene Pappas takes on Maria Casarès's part of his mistress.Freda 's movie is more compact ,with a running time of 105 min,whereas Cayatte's version (1945-46) spread over two episodes with a total time exceeding 3 hours.It also benefited from the use of color .But all in all,it's the same old story.

1871. Roger Laroque accuses himself of a crime he did not commit to save his mistress, Julia de Noirville, from dishonor. He escapes from prison and is considered dead for fourteen years. Then he returns in the guise of a rich American in order to unmask the real murderer.

Roger Laroque, an honest industrialist, is the victim of a criminal machination by Julia de Noirville, his possessive and jealous mistress allied to the perfidious Paul Luversan, meant to make Roger take responsibility for the crime he himself committed. Laroque is sent to prison, from where he escapes by sea. When he is reported missing, it looks like he drowned. But he reappears with revenge as his objective. He also wants his daughter Suzanne back. For his wife, it's too late, she died of grief.

Roger Laroque is now a rich man. He returns to France under the name of William Farnell. There, he discovers that on the one hand his wife has died of a broken heart and on the other that his daughter Suzanne is in love with Raymond de Noirville, the son of his former mistress. With the help of a few friends, Roger coldly prepares his revenge.