Fanny (1932)

Marius has left, signed up for a five year hitch on a ship bound for the Indian Ocean. In his few letters to his father César, he hardly mentions Fanny. When she finds she is pregnant, she ... See full summary »

Director:

Marc Allégret

Writers:

Marcel Pagnol (play), Marcel Pagnol (screenplay)

Stars:

Raimu, Pierre Fresnay, Orane Demazis

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Raimu	...	César
Pierre Fresnay	...	Marius
Orane Demazis	...	Fanny
Fernand Charpin	...	Honore Panisse (as Charpin)
Auguste Mouriès	...	Félix Escartefigue (as Mouriès)
Robert Vattier	...	Albert Brun (as Vattier)
Marcel Maupi	...	Innocent Mangiapan chauffeur du ferry-boat (as Maupi)
Alida Rouffe	...	Honorine Cabanis
Milly Mathis	...	Tante Claudine Foulon
Odette Roger	...	Fortunette
Louis Boulle	...	Elzéar

Storyline

Marius has left, signed up for a five year hitch on a ship bound for the Indian Ocean. In his few letters to his father César, he hardly mentions Fanny. When she finds she is pregnant, she considers her options: suicide, to raise the child on her own, to wait for Marius, or to marry Honoré Panisse, the older merchant who seeks her hand. These choices are emotional: to raise a bastard, to trust in Marius' eventual return, to believe he'll want to marry her, to save her mother from shame, to fool Panisse, to give her child a name. In scenes dramatizing Fanny's honesty, she talks to her mother, then Panisse, César, and later Marius, and she makes her choices.

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Plot Keywords:

one word title | marseille provence | sequel | provence | sailor | 

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Genres:

Comedy | Drama

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Details

Country:

France

Language:

French

Release Date:

12 February 1948 (USA)

Filming Locations:

Marseille, Bouches-du-Rhône, France

Company Credits

Production Co:

Les Films Marcel Pagnol, Les Établissements Braunberger-Richebé

Technical Specs

Runtime:

140 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Noiseless Soiund System)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Famed restaurateur and founder of California cuisine, Alice Waters, was so taken with the Fanny trilogy that she named her Berkeley restaurant Chez Panisse. The café upstairs from the restaurant is decorated with posters from the films Marius, Fanny, and César.

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Connections

Edited into Histoire(s) du cinéma: Une histoire seule (1989)

User Reviews

Sail Back Home and Away Again

Part two of Marcel Pagnol's wonderfully simple, but, mind me, not simple-minded Marseilles trilogy is even funnier and more touching than its predecessor, thanks to expanded supporting roles and a broader variety of outdoor locations.

The dialogue is as humorously and emotionally rich as ever and the cast, almost outshone by Raimu's terrific performance, works wonders with their lines.

The pace may drag slightly from time to time and some story aspects feel redundant, but the basic concerns of Pagnol's deeply philanthropic approach to issues like paternal love, social constraints and diverging attitudes towards life offer more than enough pleasures.

8 out of 10 suspicious premature births