{ "id": "epdrnbmvh3", "slug": "bay-of-angels", "title": "Bay of Angels", "updated": "2026-11-01", "topic_path": [ { "id": "culture", "label": "Arts and culture", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture" }, { "id": "culture.performance", "label": "Screen and stage", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance" }, { "id": "culture.performance.screen", "label": "Film and television", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance.screen" }, { "id": "culture.performance.screen.films", "label": "Films and standalone screen works", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance.screen.films" }, { "id": "culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works", "label": "Individual films by title and year", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works" }, { "id": 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"label": "Western Europe · 1946 to 2000: Drama films 1960s", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.weu.t1946.culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.drama-biographical.drama-films-1960s", "path": [ { "id": "geo.weu", "label": "Western Europe", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.weu" }, { "id": "geo.weu.t1946", "label": "Western Europe · 1946 to 2000", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.weu.t1946" }, { "id": "geo.weu.t1946.culture", "label": "Arts and culture", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.weu.t1946.culture" }, { "id": "geo.weu.t1946.culture.performance", "label": "Screen and stage", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.weu.t1946.culture.performance" }, { "id": "geo.weu.t1946.culture.performance.screen", "label": "Film and television", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.weu.t1946.culture.performance.screen" }, { "id": "geo.weu.t1946.culture.performance.screen.films", "label": "Films and standalone screen works", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.weu.t1946.culture.performance.screen.films" }, { "id": "geo.weu.t1946.culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works", "label": "Individual films by title and year", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.weu.t1946.culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works" }, { "id": "geo.weu.t1946.culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.drama-biographical", "label": "Drama and biographical films (individual works)", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.weu.t1946.culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.drama-biographical" }, { "id": "geo.weu.t1946.culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.drama-biographical.drama-films-1960s", "label": "Drama films 1960s", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.weu.t1946.culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.drama-biographical.drama-films-1960s" } ] } ], "excerpt": "Bay of Angels (La Baie des Anges) is Jacques Demy's 1963 French black-and-white romantic drama starring Jeanne Moreau as compulsive gambler Jackie and Claude Mann as bank clerk Jean, with Michel Legrand's score, set in the casinos of Nice.", "snippet": "Bay of Angels (La Baie des Anges) is Jacques Demy's 1963 French black-and-white romantic drama starring Jeanne Moreau as compulsive gambler Jackie and Claude Mann as bank clerk Jean, with Michel Legrand's score, set in the casinos of Nice.", "node": "culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.drama-biographical.drama-films-1960s.yr-1960-1965", "markdown": "# Bay of Angels\n\n**Bay of Angels** (French: *La Baie des Anges*) is a 1963 French black-and-white romantic drama written and directed by [Jacques Demy](https://www.edgepedia.org/jacques-demy), his second feature film, in which a young bank clerk falls in love with a compulsive woman gambler at the roulette tables of the [French Riviera](https://www.edgepedia.org/french-riviera)[1](https://www.cine-tamaris.fr/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/dossier_de_presse_la_baie_des_anges.pdf) • [2](https://www.criterion.com/films/27935-bay-of-angels). It stars [Jeanne Moreau](https://www.edgepedia.org/jeanne-moreau) as Jackie Demaistre and Claude Mann as Jean Fournier, with a score by Michel Legrand and cinematography by Jean Rabier[2](https://www.criterion.com/films/27935-bay-of-angels). Made between Demy's debut *Lola* (1961) and the all-singing *The Umbrellas of Cherbourg* (1964), it is among his most somber works[2](https://www.criterion.com/films/27935-bay-of-angels) • [3](https://www.cinematheque.fr/film/48036.html).\n\n| Key fact | Detail |\n|---|---|\n| Original title | *La Baie des Anges*; France, 1963, black and white[4](https://www.cnc.fr/professionnels/visas-et-classification/26732) |\n| Director and writer | Jacques Demy, his second feature, produced by Paul-Edmond Decharme for Sud-Pacifique Films[1](https://www.cine-tamaris.fr/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/dossier_de_presse_la_baie_des_anges.pdf) • [3](https://www.cinematheque.fr/film/48036.html) |\n| Leads | Jeanne Moreau as Jackie Demaistre, a divorcée addicted to gambling; Claude Mann as Jean Fournier, a bank clerk[2](https://www.criterion.com/films/27935-bay-of-angels) |\n| French release | 1 March 1963; CNC visa dated 31 January 1963; registered duration 84 minutes[4](https://www.cnc.fr/professionnels/visas-et-classification/26732) |\n| Key crew | Michel Legrand (music), Jean Rabier (cinematography), Bernard Evein (design), Pierre Cardin (dresses for Moreau)[3](https://www.cinematheque.fr/film/48036.html) |\n| Filming | 17 September to 28 October 1962, at locations including Monte Carlo, Nice, Enghien-les-Bains, and Juan-les-Pins[5](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0056846/locations/) |\n| Restoration | Restored and digitized in 2014 by Ciné-Tamaris and the Cinémathèque française; released by the Criterion Collection as Spine #715[6](https://www.cinematheque.fr/article/30.html) • [7](https://www.criterionforum.org/Review/bay-of-angels-the-criterion-collection-dual-format-edition) |\n\n## Spoilers\n\n### Plot\n\nJean Fournier is a modest bank clerk whose colleague Caron (Paul Guers) introduces him to gambling[8](https://cineuropa.org/fr/film/401075/). Favored by luck in his first sessions, he defies the warnings of his father (Henri Nassiet), an old-fashioned craftsman who sees only ruin and dishonor in games of chance, and leaves for Nice[8](https://cineuropa.org/fr/film/401075/) • [9](https://cinema-francais.fr/les_films/films_d/films_demy_jacques/la_baie_des_anges.htm). In a casino he meets Jackie, a beautiful, compulsive gambler who calls herself \"a character from a novel,\" and he falls passionately in love with her[9](https://cinema-francais.fr/les_films/films_d/films_demy_jacques/la_baie_des_anges.htm) • [3](https://www.cinematheque.fr/film/48036.html).\n\nAt first the two lovers use each other as good luck charms, but their passion for gambling and their love prove difficult to reconcile[10](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/bay_of_angels_1963) • [8](https://cineuropa.org/fr/film/401075/). Jackie, a divorcée who has given up husband, alimony, and custody of her son for the tables, draws the younger Jean into her risky world; together they win and lose large sums at roulette across the casinos of the Côte d'Azur[11](https://www.viennale.at/en/films/baie-des-anges) • [10](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/bay_of_angels_1963). In the Cineuropa synopsis, love finally prevails over the passion for gambling and saves the couple from the fall[8](https://cineuropa.org/fr/film/401075/).\n\n## Production\n\nDemy made the film in 1962 while waiting to find a producer for the color musical project that became *The Umbrellas of Cherbourg*[12](https://www.lemonde.fr/archives/article/1967/05/12/film-la-baie-des-anges_2627781_1819218.html). In Jean-Pierre Berthomé's biography, Demy characterized the inception, scripting, and shooting of *La Baie des Anges* as something he pulled off rapidly and with no difficulties, in sharp contrast to most of his other pictures: only a few days were needed to write the screenplay, the film was planned as a low-budget black-and-white production, and he had little trouble finding a producer and bringing aboard Jeanne Moreau, who had enjoyed *Lola* and wished to collaborate with him[13](https://wrap.warwick.ac.uk/id/eprint/107760/1/WRAP_Theses_Mulligan_2017.pdf).\n\nDemy explained the film's origin in an interview quoted by *Le Monde*: \"The idea of the film was born from an impression of a casino where I discovered a singular collectivity, an absent, haggard, possessed crowd, whose expression conveyed anguish and moral degradation\"[12](https://www.lemonde.fr/archives/article/1967/05/12/film-la-baie-des-anges_2627781_1819218.html). Filming ran from 17 September to 28 October 1962, with location work at the [Hôtel de Paris](https://www.edgepedia.org/hotel-de-paris) in [Monte Carlo](https://www.edgepedia.org/monte-carlo), the Promenade des Anglais in Nice, the Casino de Juan-les-Pins, and the casino at Enghien-les-Bains, whose interiors stood in for the Nice casino[5](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0056846/locations/). Costa-Gavras served as an assistant director[3](https://www.cinematheque.fr/film/48036.html).\n\n## Style and music\n\nThe film is shot in stark black and white by Jean Rabier, with sharp lines, men in dark suits, and women in white with bold black designs; conversation is clipped and much of the film plays without music[14](https://www.thecrimson.com/article/1965/12/15/bay-of-the-angels-pibay-of/). The Cinémathèque française describes the work as inspired both by the sobriety of [Robert Bresson](https://www.edgepedia.org/robert-bresson)'s films and by the confusions of feeling and chance romantic encounters in the films of Max Ophuls[3](https://www.cinematheque.fr/film/48036.html). Demy privileges direct sound, the breath of the lovers, and the noise of the roulette wheel, and the couple moves through enclosed spaces, from the casinos of Monaco to hotel rooms in Nice lined with mirrors[15](https://adrc-asso.org/sites/default/files/adrc/ged/Jacques%20Demy.pdf).\n\n[Michel Legrand](https://www.edgepedia.org/michel-legrand)'s score interlaces two themes, one joyous, evoking Nice and the bay of angels, the other more lyrical, saluting the arrival of luck in all its forms; returning in alternation, they mimic the movements of the roulette wheel and of life[16](https://www.lecinematographe.com/La-Baie-des-anges_a7007.html). The film opens with a piano concerto evoking waves, the sea, madness, and the decadence of gambling[1](https://www.cine-tamaris.fr/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/dossier_de_presse_la_baie_des_anges.pdf). Moreau's platinum-blonde look, dressed by [Pierre Cardin](https://www.edgepedia.org/pierre-cardin), draws on the Hollywood glamour of the 1930s and 1940s and specifically on [Jean Harlow](https://www.edgepedia.org/jean-harlow), \"the platinum blonde\"[15](https://adrc-asso.org/sites/default/files/adrc/ged/Jacques%20Demy.pdf) • [17](https://www.forumdesimages.fr/sites/default/files/2024-06/FORUM_PROGR94_MAI17_BAT-1.pdf).\n\n## Reception and restoration\n\nThe film's French release was 1 March 1963[4](https://www.cnc.fr/professionnels/visas-et-classification/26732), and it reached the United States on 23 November 1964[10](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/bay_of_angels_1963). Jacques Siclier wrote in *Le Monde* in 1967 that the success of *The Umbrellas of Cherbourg* and *[The Young Girls of Rochefort](https://www.edgepedia.org/the-young-girls-of-rochefort)* had almost completely erased the film's existence, even though it was Demy's most important work in terms of theme and style[12](https://www.lemonde.fr/archives/article/1967/05/12/film-la-baie-des-anges_2627781_1819218.html). On Metacritic, the 2001 re-release holds a Metascore of 76 based on 6 critic reviews, with the Los Angeles Times's Kenneth Turan calling it \"a potent showcase for Moreau's gifts\"[18](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/bay-of-angels/). [Pauline Kael](https://www.edgepedia.org/pauline-kael), writing in *The New Yorker*, called it \"a magical, whirling little film, a triumph of style,\" and described Moreau's performance as one the picture is \"almost an emanation of\"[19](https://www.newyorker.com/goings-on-about-town/movies/bay-of-angels).\n\nReported running times differ among reference sources: the CNC registers 84 minutes[4](https://www.cnc.fr/professionnels/visas-et-classification/26732), the Cinémathèque française lists 82 minutes[3](https://www.cinematheque.fr/film/48036.html), Cineuropa lists 90 minutes[8](https://cineuropa.org/fr/film/401075/), and Rotten Tomatoes lists 1 hour 25 minutes[10](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/bay_of_angels_1963).\n\n**Restoration.** The original negative had become fragile with age, showing scratches, stains, burst perforations, and torn images, mostly at the splices of the period editing. Ciné-Tamaris and the Cinémathèque française restored and digitized the film in 2014 with support from the Fonds culturel franco-américain, the Archives audiovisuelles de Monaco, SOGEDA, and Kodak, preserving the 35 mm grain, the original color grading, and the period sound[6](https://www.cinematheque.fr/article/30.html). Mathieu Demy, the director's son, supervised and validated the color grading, respecting the choices made by his father and Jean Rabier in 1962[6](https://www.cinematheque.fr/article/30.html). [The Criterion Collection](https://www.edgepedia.org/the-criterion-collection) issued the restoration in 2014 as Spine #715, both standalone and within the box set *The Essential Jacques Demy*, including a 1962 French television interview with Moreau on the set[7](https://www.criterionforum.org/Review/bay-of-angels-the-criterion-collection-dual-format-edition).\n\n## References\n\n1. [Bay of Angels press dossier, Ciné-Tamaris](https://www.cine-tamaris.fr/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/dossier_de_presse_la_baie_des_anges.pdf)\n2. [Bay of Angels (1963), The Criterion Collection](https://www.criterion.com/films/27935-bay-of-angels)\n3. [La Baie des Anges (Jacques Demy, 1963), La Cinémathèque française](https://www.cinematheque.fr/film/48036.html)\n4. [La Baie des Anges, visa 26732, CNC Visas et Classification](https://www.cnc.fr/professionnels/visas-et-classification/26732)\n5. [Bay of Angels (1963), Filming & Production, IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0056846/locations/)\n6. [La restauration de « La Baie des Anges » de Jacques Demy, La Cinémathèque française (Hervé Pichard, 25 November 2014)](https://www.cinematheque.fr/article/30.html)\n7. [Bay of Angels, Criterion Collection Dual-Format Edition Review, Criterion Forum (Chris Galloway, 22 July 2014)](https://www.criterionforum.org/Review/bay-of-angels-the-criterion-collection-dual-format-edition)\n8. [La baie des anges, Cineuropa](https://cineuropa.org/fr/film/401075/)\n9. [La Baie des Anges, cinema-francais.fr](https://cinema-francais.fr/les_films/films_d/films_demy_jacques/la_baie_des_anges.htm)\n10. [Bay of Angels (1963), Rotten Tomatoes](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/bay_of_angels_1963)\n11. [La Baie des Anges, Viennale](https://www.viennale.at/en/films/baie-des-anges)\n12. [FILM la Baie des Anges, Jacques Siclier, Le Monde (12 May 1967)](https://www.lemonde.fr/archives/article/1967/05/12/film-la-baie-des-anges_2627781_1819218.html)\n13. [La Baie des Anges, thesis of the University of Warwick (Mulligan, 2017)](https://wrap.warwick.ac.uk/id/eprint/107760/1/WRAP_Theses_Mulligan_2017.pdf)\n14. [Bay of the Angels, Rand K. Rosenblatt, The Harvard Crimson (15 December 1965)](https://www.thecrimson.com/article/1965/12/15/bay-of-the-angels-pibay-of/)\n15. [Jacques Demy exhibition dossier, ADRC](https://adrc-asso.org/sites/default/files/adrc/ged/Jacques%20Demy.pdf)\n16. [La Baie des anges, lecinematographe.com](https://www.lecinematographe.com/La-Baie-des-anges_a7007.html)\n17. [Séances de mai program, Forum des Images](https://www.forumdesimages.fr/sites/default/files/2024-06/FORUM_PROGR94_MAI17_BAT-1.pdf)\n18. [Bay of Angels Reviews, Metacritic](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/bay-of-angels/)\n19. [Bay of Angels, Pauline Kael, The New Yorker (April 2015)](https://www.newyorker.com/goings-on-about-town/movies/bay-of-angels)\n\n---\n*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Films and standalone screen works › Individual films by title and year › Drama and biographical films (individual works) › Drama films 1960s › Released 1960 to 1965*\n\n*Initially written Oct 3, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 3, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026; Nov 1, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*\n\n*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*\n\nLicense: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license\n", "same_as": [], "url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/bay-of-angels", "markdown_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/bay-of-angels.md", "license": { "name": "Edgepedia Community License 1.0", "url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license", "summary": "Free with credit, commercial use included. AI training is open to everyone. For other uses, organizations over USD 100M in revenue or 100M monthly users license separately.", "spdx": "LicenseRef-Edgepedia-Community-1.0" }, "credit": "\"Bay of Angels\", Edgepedia (EdgeChat), https://www.edgepedia.org/bay-of-angels. Edgepedia Community License 1.0.", "credit_md": "\"[Bay of Angels](https://www.edgepedia.org/bay-of-angels)\", Edgepedia (EdgeChat), [https://www.edgepedia.org/bay-of-angels](https://www.edgepedia.org/bay-of-angels). [Edgepedia Community License 1.0](https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license).", "credit_html": "\"Bay of Angels\", Edgepedia (EdgeChat), https://www.edgepedia.org/bay-of-angels. Edgepedia Community License 1.0.", "speakable": "Bay of Angels is Jacques Demy's 1963 French black-and-white romantic drama starring Jeanne Moreau as compulsive gambler Jackie and Claude Mann as bank clerk Jean, with Michel Legrand's score, set in the casinos of Nice." }