Mississippi Mermaid (1969)

Well, it’s my pleasure to introduce the ever‑present and always‑insightful blogger Mr Brian Hanna’s The Magnificent 60s, a sharp, curated look at one of cinema’s most transformative decades, mixing weekly reviews with production histories, box‑office insights, and behind‑the‑scenes stories. Its archive spans spy thrillers, westerns, biopics, musicals, and modern films that echo the era’s spirit. So, without further ado…

Here’s the latest from The Magnificent 60s

The problem with deifying your heroes is that you might be tempted to imitate them. Celebrated French director Francois Truffaut (Fahrenheit 451, 1966) had just published his seminal book on Alfred Hitchcock, the first full-length work to treat him as a cinematic genius (an idea, it has to be said, largely dismissed at the time in the USA). Mississippi Mermaid is a homage to Vertigo (1958) with a hero in love with something which doesn’t exist, his idealized version of a woman.

Louis (Jean-Paul Belmondo) and Julie (Catherine Deneuve) couldn’t be more different. A factory owner, he’s got dough and wants a wife. She wants dough and will do anything to get it. She’s the queen of femme fatales and he’s the king of suckers. So it’s a bit of stretch at times, no matter how glamorous and sexy Julie is, for him to stick by her no matter what scheme, at his expense (literally), she comes up with…

…Read the Full Article @ The Magnificent 60s