The Bride Wore Black

The Bride Wore Black
Theatrical release poster
FrenchLa mariée était en noir
Directed byFrançois Truffaut
Screenplay by
Based onThe Bride Wore Black
by William Irish
Produced by
Starring
CinematographyRaoul Coutard
Edited byClaudine Bouché
Music byBernard Herrmann
Production
companies
Distributed by
  • Les Artistes Associés (France)
  • Dear Film (Italy)
Release dates
  • 22 March 1968 (1968-03-22) (West Germany)
  • 17 April 1968 (1968-04-17) (France)
  • 30 April 1968 (1968-04-30) (Italy)
Running time
107 minutes
Countries
  • France
  • Italy
LanguageFrench
Budget$747,000
Box office$9.6 million

The Bride Wore Black (French: La mariée était en noir, lit.'The Bride Was in Black') is a 1968 psychological thriller film directed by François Truffaut from a screenplay he co-wrote with Jean-Louis Richard, based on the 1940 novel of the same name by William Irish, a pseudonym for Cornell Woolrich. It stars Jeanne Moreau, Michel Bouquet, Jean-Claude Brialy, Charles Denner, Claude Rich, Michael Lonsdale, Daniel Boulanger and Alexandra Stewart. Truffaut, a Hitchcock admirer, enlisted Bernard Herrmann to score the film. The film's costumes were designed by Pierre Cardin.

The plot follows a widow who seeks revenge on the five men who accidentally killed her husband on their wedding day. Throughout the film, she wears only white, black or a combination of the two.