À nous la liberté (1931)

Director:

René Clair

Writer:

René Clair (story)

Release Date:

31 December 1931 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Musical

Tagline:

Le chef-d'oeuvre de René Clair

Plot:

A famous left-wing satirical comedy about two ex-convicts, one of whom escaped jail and then worked his way up from salesman to factory owner...

Plot Keywords:

Factory | Worker | Friend | Escape | Jail

Awards:

Nominated for Oscar. Another 2 wins

Cast

Henri Marchand	...	Émile
Raymond Cordy	...	Louis
Rolla France	...	Jeanne
Paul Ollivier	...	L'oncle (as Paul Olivier)
Jacques Shelly	...	Paul
André Michaud	...	Le contremaitre
Germaine Aussey	...	Maud - la femme de Louis
Léon Lorin	...	Le vieux monsieur sourd
William Burke	...	L'ancien détenu
Vincent Hyspa	...	Le vieil orateur

Also Known As:

À nous la liberté! (France) (alternative spelling)
Freedom for Us (International: English title)
Liberty for Us (USA)

Runtime:

104 min | USA:83 min (re-release) | USA:97 min

Country:

France

Language:

French

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.20 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

USA:TV-G (TV rating) | Finland:(Banned) (1950) | UK:U | USA:Approved

Company:

Films Sonores Tobis

Trivia:

First film not in English to receive an Oscar nomination

Quotes:

[first lines]
[Voice over Singer]: Liberty is the happy man's due / He enjoys love and skies of blue / But then there are some / Who no worse crimes have done / It's the sad story we tell / From a prison cell

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Modern Times (1936)

Marvellous early sound film

Clair's À nous la liberté is a wonderful satire of modern mass production, magnificently shot, directed, decently acted and with impressive sets. The satirical content is stressed but not too on-your-face. The main reaction to the film is delight.

Some of the sequences were an obvious inspiration to Chaplin, whose masterpiece Modern Times resembles this film quite a lot both in the way it looks as well as thematically.

The picture and sound quality, at least in the version shown on Finnish TV, are superb which is surprising considering the age of the film.

The music is good and well used, except the songs which are slightly irritating. Still, this is a great and pleasing film with a very amusing scene in the end, taking place at the opening of a new factory.