Reign of Terror (1949) on Netflix
Approved19491h 29mDramaHistoryRomanceThrillerWar
Paris, 1794. Robespierre's black book, naming those he means to send to the guillotine, has vanished. Charles D'Aubigny hunts it under the identity of a prosecutor summoned to the city.
- Netflix3.5/5
- IMDb6.9/102,432 votes
- Rotten TomatoesNot available
Trailer
Plot summary
In 1794 Maximilien Robespierre is the most powerful man in France and aims to become its dictator. He needs François Barras, the only delegate who can put his name before the National Convention, but Barras refuses and hides. Robespierre also sends for Duval, the prosecutor of Strasbourg, and Charles D'Aubigny kills Duval and takes his identity; since Robespierre and Fouché, head of the secret police, have never met the prosecutor, nobody notices the swap. Robespierre tells D'Aubigny that his black book, which holds the names of those he plans to denounce and put to death, has been stolen, and gives him power over everyone in France plus a single day to recover it. D'Aubigny works through Madelon, a woman he once loved, to reach the hiding Barras, and Saint-Just's police arrest Barras all the same.
Cast
- Walter Baconas Citizen(uncredited)
Show all 20 cast
Did you know?!Facts and trivia about Reign of Terror (1949)
Can contain spoilers, watch the movie first.
- To land Robert Cummings as the star of Reign of Terror, producer Walter Wanger turned the film into a co-production with Cummings' own company, United Californian, and borrowed Arlene Dahl from MGM.
- The sets for Reign of Terror cost only $40,000, part of a low-budget "epic" that producer Walter Wanger, director Anthony Mann, cinematographer John Alton and production designer William Cameron Menzies made using Broadway stars.
- Philip Yordan rewrote Aeneas MacKenzie's script for Reign of Terror, calling it "nothing but speeches" and telling director Anthony Mann it should be simplified into Cummings hunting a book of names before Robespierre could get it.
