Ten Days' Wonder (1971)

Interesting facts

• Box office: $5.3M
• Based on: Ten Days' Wonder
• Filmed in: Paris

Ten Days' Wonder is a 1971 French murder-mystery film directed by Claude Chabrol and starring Michel Piccoli, Anthony Perkins, Marlène Jobert and Orson Welles. It is based on the 1948 novel Ten Days' Wonder by Ellery Queen. As the story is transposed to France, the Ellery Queen character from the original novel is replaced as the investigator by a new character, Paul Régis. Welles and Perkins had worked together on several previous films, including The Trial (1962), directed by Welles, while Perkins had starred in Chabrol's The Champagne Murders (1967).

Production

Claude Chabrol had long wished to adapt Ellery Queen's novel, the idea dating back before his first feature film Le Beau Serge. He initially considered shooting the film in India, where he had seen a house he thought would be an ideal setting for the story. For budgetary reasons, Chabrol had to abandon that idea; principal photography took place essentially in Alsace, near Obernai, while the opening scenes were shot in Paris.

While a predominantly French production, the film was shot entirely in English due to the presence in major roles of Anthony Perkins and Orson Welles. Chabrol had been told that Welles was impossible to work with, but eventually found him charming and very professional.

Chabrol had planned to cast Catherine Deneuve as the female lead, but filming had to be postponed after Orson Welles fell ill. Chabrol considered replacing Welles with Raymond Burr but ultimately preferred waiting for Welles to get better, by which time Deneuve had become unavailable and had to be replaced by Marlène Jobert.

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