Manèges

Manège is the French word for a riding school. One features centrally in Manèges (aka The Cheat), a superbly unpleasant French movie from 1949. It’s also the word for merry-go-round – worth remembering as this tale about a cuckold being given the absolute runaround plays out. The casting is bang-on perfect. Bernard Blier as Robert, the pudgy, middle-aged owner of a riding school who has married vampish Dora (Simone Signoret) because she’s hot as hell, unaware that Dora’s mother (Jane Marken) has engineered the marriage for reasons of her own. The story plays out in flashback, from the hospital where Dora lies mortally injured after a terrible accident. While Robert twists his knuckles … Read more