| Bay of Angels | |
| Native Name: | |
| Director: | Jacques Demy |
| Producer: | Paul-Edmond Decharme |
| Cinematography: | Jean Rabier |
| Editing: | Anne-Marie Cotret |
| Music: | Michel Legrand |
| Studio: | Sud-Pacifique Films |
| Distributor: | Consortium Pathé |
| Runtime: | 89 minutes |
| Language: | French |
| Country: | France |
| Gross: | $100,000 (US)[1] |
Bay of Angels (French: La baie des anges) is a 1963 French romantic drama film written and directed by Jacques Demy.[2] Starring Jeanne Moreau and Claude Mann, it is Demy's second film and deals with the subject of gambling.[3] The costumes were designed by Pierre Cardin.
Jean Fournier is a quiet young bank employee in Paris, living with his widowed father. After accompanying his colleague Caron to a casino and winning at roulette, he decides to have a holiday on the French Riviera, despite his father's warning that gamblers always lose in the end. In the casino in Nice, he meets Jackie Demaistre, a middle-aged woman who has left her husband and infant son to pursue her compulsion. The two develop an emotional connection, though she warns him that she will sacrifice anything to keep on gambling, not for the money, she claims, but for the thrill. As her remaining belongings are in a suitcase at the railway station, where she plans to sleep, he offers her his hotel room. They drink, talk, and make love.
Back in the casino, the two win a fortune with which, having bought a sports car and smart clothes, they take a suite in Monte Carlo and hit the tables there. Losing everything, they take the train back to Nice, where Jean convinces his father to send him some money. When this too is lost in the casino, Jean calls it a day and walks off, saying that he is returning to Paris. Hurt at this double rejection, of her and of their gambling partnership, Jackie angrily tells him to go. Shortly afterwards, she runs after him and the two embrace in the sunset.