A murder has been committed in a mountain village. Commissaire Broussard investigates.
Le lièvre blanc aux oreilles noires is an episode of the feature-length French detective series Les Cinq Dernières Minutes (1958-1996).
Created by journalist, director, scriptwriter and producer Claude Loursais, Les Cinq Dernières Minutes is one of the first series in the History of French television. It was launched on January 1, 1958 on the only channel of RTF (Radiodiffusion Télévision Française), the predecessor of ORTF (Office de radiodiffusion-télévision française). Les Cinq Dernières Minutes went through many changes in three "eras" until France 2 aired its 149th episode on December 20, 1996. The first era (1958-1973) was penned by Claude Loursais — who directed most of its episodes — with Fred Kassak, Louis C. Thomas, Michel Lebrun, Maurice-Bernard Endrèbe, Henri Grangé, André Maheux, Jean Cosmos, etc. This version starred Raymond Souplex as Inspecteur/Commissaire Antoine Bourrel and Jean Daurand as Inspecteur Dupuy.
Les Cinq Dernières Minutes started as a live mystery gameshow. After the format and live broadcasting were dropped, the programme explored different socio-professional environments in episodes shot in studio on video and on 16mm film for the locations. The popularity of the series peaked in the 1960s-1970s and turned Raymond Souplex and Jean Daurand into TV stars. Bourrel's catchphrase (« Bon Dieu, mais c'est bien sûr! ») entered the vernacular. From 1967 to 1973 there was a German adaptation called Dem Täter auf der Spur. Les Cinq Dernières Minutes switched from black and white to colour in 1971. Dupuy was gradually phased out after Jean Daurand's health issues.
Following the death of Souplex in 1972, four TV movies were tested by Loursais between July 1974 and January 1975 (not in their production order) on the Deuxième chaîne and Antenne 2: Rouges sont les vendanges, Fausse note, Si ce n'est toi and Le Coup de pouce. Those films, independent from Les Cinq Dernières Minutes though built on its "formula", tried new detectives and the famous theme music by Marc Lanjean (1) was notably absent. Claude Loursais almost kept Christian Barbier, who starred as Commissaire Le Carré in two of the TV movies, but they didn't agree on the financial terms. In 1974, it was announced that Jacques Debary (Poker d'as) was the unnamed commissaire of Loursais' new (as yet untitled) mystery drama, whose shooting of the first episode had begun.
The episode, called Le lièvre blanc aux oreilles noires, was penned by novelist and writer Jean Chatenet. Chatenet co-wrote Ardéchois coeur fidèle (1974) with Jean Cosmos. Claude Loursais helmed the video sequences but he was struck by appendicitis before filming in Bonneval-sur-Arc (Savoie). ORTF asked Claire Jortner, his script girl and wife, to replace him (2). Le lièvre blanc aux oreilles noires was shown by Antenne 2 (3) on May 10, 1975 as part of a relaunched Cinq Dernières Minutes. Prior to airing, Debary's character was introduced to the press as Commissaire Broussard but had to be renamed Cabrol because of a real-life supercop named Robert Broussard. The new commissaire is credited Cabrol in the end titles but he never introduces himself during the episode. At the time three other episodes with Debary were in the can.
Henri Sorbier, a retired businessman from Lyon, lives near the small mountain village of Bonvillard with his wife, his son and his stepdaughter. When he's found dead on a chairlift, Commissaire Broussard is sent to investigate. Sorbier was feared by his wife, and hated by both his entourage and the villagers. Starting with Just Regaud, a shepherd who was forced to sell his house to Henri Sorbier. Le lièvre blanc aux oreilles noires is filled with sheep, cows and beautiful mountains. The plot is a pretext for a social documentary about the challenges of mountain villages caught between traditions and the emergence of ski resorts. In 1971, the ORTF drama Les Sesterain ou Le Miroir 2000 had a similar theme.
Jacques Debary portrays a commissaire who's more caustic than in the latter episodes. Élisabeth Alain, who plays Sorbier's wife Stéphanie, died at 36 after the shooting of Le lièvre blanc aux oreilles noires. Henri Sorbier is played by the great stage, cinema and television actor Michel Vitold (L'homme qui revient de loin, Judex). Actress Anémone (Lily) had supporting roles in three episodes of Les Cinq Dernières Minutes in a row, this one included. In the 1980s, she became a star of the big screen and had a versatile career with films such as Le père Noël est une ordure (1982) or Le grand chemin (1988). Actors Henri Marteau (Etienne), François Dyrek (Just) and André Weber (Adrien) appeared in several episodes in different roles.
Also with Bernard Rousselet (Arnaud Sorbier), Abel Jores (Élysée), Patrick Lancelot (Gérard Martin), Philippe Moreau (The mayor), Eva Saint-Paul (Beatrix), etc. Produced by Hélène Rambert and Oreste Delsale. Cinematography by Pierre Mareschal. Video editing by Christiane Coutel. Film editing by M. Lebon-Stockhausen. There's no original music, as often for the ORTF productions, and no credited sound illustrator for the use of library music. Marc Eyraud, seen in Si ce n'est toi, Fausse note and Rouges sont les vendanges, came back again as the Columbo-esque Inspector Ménardeau in La mémoire longue for an association with Debary/Cabrol which lasted until 1991.
The duo Cabrol-Ménardeau was replaced by Pierre Santini (Un juge, un flic) as Commissaire Julien Massard and Pierre Hoden (Inspecteur Antoine Barrier) from 1992 to 1996. Perrette Souplex, the daughter of Raymond Souplex, guest starred as Bourrel's daughter in a 1995 episode. The episodes of Les Cinq Dernières Minutes from 1958 to 1991 are available on Madelen, the streaming service of INA. Brigade des Mineurs,
the 1977-1979 social drama series created by Claude Loursais and
starring Jean Daurand as Commissaire Dupuy, is on Madelen too.
(1) Arsenic Blues, actually composed by Marc Lanjean for the movie La Peau de l'ours (1957).
(2) Télé 7 Jours.
(3) ORTF was dismantled in December 1974 and the Deuxième chaîne was renamed Antenne 2.
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