La Marseillaise (1938)

Director:

Jean Renoir

Writers:

Jean Renoir (scenario)
Carl Koch (collaboration) ...
(more)

Release Date:

17 April 1938 (Finland)

Genre:

Drama | History | Music | War

Plot:

A news-reel like movie about early part of the Frensh Revolution, shown from the eyes of individual people...

Plot Keywords:

La Marseillaise | French Revolution | France

Cast

Pierre Renoir	...	Le Roi de France Louis XVI
Lise Delamare	...	La Reine Marie-Antoinette (as Lise Delamare de la Comédie Française)
Léon Larive	...	Picard, le valet du roi
William Aguet	...	Duque de La Rochefoucauld-Liancourt
Elisa Ruis	...	La princesse de Lamballe
Marie-Pierre Sordet-Dantès	...	Le Dauphin
Yveline Auriol	...	La Dauphine
Pamela Stirling	...	Une suivante
Génia Vaury	...	Une suivante
Louis Jouvet	...	Roederer, le procureur du département
Jean Aquistapace	...	Paul Giraud, le maire du village
Georges Spanelly	...	La Chesnaye (as Spanelly)
Jaque Catelain	...	Le capitaine Langlade
Pierre Nay	...	Dubouchage
Edmond Castel	...	Leroux (as Castel)
Werner Florian	...	Westerman (as Werner Florian-Zach)
Aimé Clariond	...	Monsieur de Saint Laurent (as Aimé Clariond de la Comédie Française)
Maurice Escande	...	Le seigneur du village
André Zibral	...	Monsieur de Saint Merri (as Zibral)
Jean Aymé	...	Monsieur de Fouguerolles (as Jean Ayme)
Irène Joachim	...	Madame de Saint Laurent
Andrex	...	Honoré Arnaud
Edmond Ardisson	...	Jean-Joseph Bomier, le maçon (as Ardisson)
Charles Blavette	...	Un Marseillais
Paul Dullac	...	Javel, le chasseur à la fronde (as Dullac)
Jean-Louis Allibert	...	Moissan, un Marseillais (as J.L. Allibert)
Fernand Flament	...	Ardisson, un Marseillais
Alex Truchy	...	Cuculière, un Marseillais
Georges Péclet	...	Lieutenant Pignatel (as G. Peclet)
Géo Dorlys	...	Un chef marseillais (as Géo Dorlis)
Géo Lastry	...	Le capitaine Massagne
Adolphe Autran	...	Le tambour Marseillais (as Autran)
Édouard Delmont	...	Anatole Roux dit 'Cabri'
Nadia Sibirskaïa	...	Louison
Jenny Hélia	...	Louise Vauclair, l'interpellatrice (as Jenny Helia)
Gaston Modot	...	Un volontaire
Sévérine Lerczinska	...	Une paysanne (as S. Lerzinska)
Julien Carette	...	Un volontaire (as Carette)
Marthe Marty	...	La mère de Bomier
Odette Cazau	...	Thérèse
Edmond Beauchamp	...	Le curé Fayet
Blanche Destournelles	...	Clémence
Pierre Ferval
Fernand Bellan
Jean Boissemond
Lucy Kieffer	...	Une suivante
Raymond Pélissier
Jacques Castelot
Roger Prégor
Robert Manuel
Robert Rollis

Directed by
Jean Renoir

Writing credits
Jean Renoir		(scenario)
Carl Koch		(collaboration) (as C. Koch) &
N. Martel-Dreyfus		(collaboration)
Jean Renoir		(dialogue)

Produced by
Jean Renoir	....	producer
André Seigneur	....	executive producer (as A. Seigneur)
André Zwoboda	....	executive producer

Original Music by
Joseph Kosma		(as Kosma)
Henry Sauveplane		(as Sauveplane)

Cinematography by
Jean-Paul Alphen		(as J.P. Alphen)
Jean Bourgoin		(as Bourgoin)
Alain Douarinou		(as A. Douarinou)
Jean Louis		(as J. Louis)
Jean-Marie Maillols		(as Maillols)

Film Editing by
Marguerite Renoir		(as Margueritte)

Production Design by
Léon Barsacq		(as L. Barsacq)
Georges Wakhévitch		(as Wakhevitch)

Set Decoration by
Jean Perrier		(uncredited)

Costume Design by
Louis Granier		(as Granier)

Makeup Department
Burton	....	hair stylist
Pierromax	....	makeup artist

Production Management
Maurice Barnathan	....	unit manager (as Barnathan)
René Decrais	....	unit manager (as Decrais)
Defrace	....	unit manager
Louis Joly	....	administrative manager
Edouard Lepage	....	unit manager
Henri Lepage	....	unit manager (as H. Lepage)
Raymond Pillon	....	unit manager (as Pillon)
André Seigneur	....	production manager
Maurice Veillard	....	unit manager (as Veillard)
André Zwoboda	....	production manager (as André Zwobada)

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Jacques Becker	....	assistant director
Tony Corteggiani	....	assistant director (as Corteggiani)
Guy Demazure	....	assistant director (as Demazure)
Jean-Paul Le Chanois	....	assistant director (as J.P. Dreyfus)
Marc Maurette	....	assistant director (as Maurette)
Claude Renoir	....	assistant director (as Cl. Renoir Sr.)

Art Department
Léon Barsacq	....	set designer
Jean Perrier	....	set designer
Georges Wakhévitch	....	set designer

Sound Department
Jean Bertrand	....	sound engineer (as J. Bertrand)
Joseph de Bretagne	....	sound (as De Bretagne)
J. Demede	....	sound

Camera and Electrical Department
Sam Levin	....	still photographer

Animation Department
Lotte Reiniger	....	shadow artist: ombres chinoises/shadows theatre

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Coco Chanel	....	costumes: Marie-Antoinette (as Chanel)

Editorial Department
Marthe Huguet	....	assistant editor (as Huguet)

Music Department
Johann Sebastian Bach	....	ancient music (as Bach)
Michel-Richard De Lalande	....	ancient music (as Lalande)
André-Ernest-Modeste Grétry	....	ancient music (as Gretry)
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart	....	ancient music (as Mozart)
Jean-Philippe Rameau	....	ancient music (as Rameau)
Claude Joseph Rouget de Lisle	....	ancient music: "La Marseillaise" (as Rouget de Lisle)

Other crew
Carl Koch	....	researcher (uncredited)

Production Companies

• Compagnie Jean Renoir (presents) (as La Compagnie Jean Renoir)
• Societé d'Exploitation et de Distribution de Films (SEDIF) (as Socété d'Exploitation et de Productions Cinématographiques)
• Confédération Générale du Travail (CGT)

Distributors

• Réalisation d'art cinématographique (RAC) (1938) (France) (theatrical)
• Emelka-Filmgesellschaft (1938) (Switzerland) (theatrical)
• World Pictures Corporation (1939) (USA) (theatrical) (subtitled)
• StudioCanal (2004) (France) (DVD)
• Connaissance du Cinéma (2007) (worldwide) (theatrical)
• Tamasa Distribution (2007) (worldwide) (theatrical)
• Interama Video Classics (1988) (USA) (VHS)
• Lionsgate Home Entertainment (2007) (USA) (DVD)
• Maple Pictures (2007) (Canada) (DVD)
• Optimum Home Entertainment (2007) (UK) (DVD)

Other Companies

• Paris Studio Cinéma, Boulogne-Billancourt  studio (as Paris-Studio-Cinema)
• Western Electric  sound recording
• Luxtone  lighting
• Vivant  wigs
• Chanel  costumes: Robes de Marie Antoinette par
• Petit Duc  music published by
• Franay L.T.C. Saint Cloud  laboratory (as Franay L.T.C. St. Cloud)

Also Known As:

Runtime:

135 min | USA:130 min

Country:

France

Language:

French | German

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Sound System)

Certification:

Finland:K-16 | Portugal:M/12

Filming Locations:

Alsace, France

Company:

Compagnie Jean Renoir

Trivia:

The opening credits mention that the producers André Zwoboda and André Seigneur worked for the left-wing trade union 'Confédération Générale du Travail (CGT)'.

Movie Connections:

Featured in Jean Renoir: Part One - From La Belle Époque to World War II (1993) (TV)

Soundtrack:

Musique ancienne

One of the Best Movies on the French Revolution

Given the monumental importance of the French Revolution in history, it is surprising that so few films have been made about it or have even used it as a setting. "The Assassination of the Jean Paul Marat" is probably the most interesting and offbeat film, but it takes place 20 years after the revolution and only debates and argues about it. "Scarlet Pimpernel," "Reign of Terror," and "Tale of Two Cities" just use the revolution as backdrops to tell fun adventure stories. "Danton" is boring, anti-revolutionary and childish, everyone is presented in black and white terms. Griffith's "Orphans of the Storm" has lots of delights and some great action sequences, but is too didactic and anti-revolutionary. "Marie Antonette" (2006) and "Affair of the Necklace" are beautiful and great works, but show little interest in the revolution itself.

Although it deals with only some events leading to the overthrow of the monarchy, "La Marseillaise" is possibly the best film. It shows the complexity of the events and deals with them in an intelligent and reasonable manner. It shows how "the Brunswick Manifesto" led to the arrest of the King and Queen. While Marie and Louis, are not shown in a particularly good light, neither are they caricatured.

The movie is episodic and slow, but there are a number of dazzling shots and scenes. The attack on the King's palace at the end is the dramatic highlight.

There is a fabulous scene in the middle of the film where the aristocrats are singing a song about how they are going to "hang the traitors" and shortly the revolutionaries answer by singing about how they are going to "hang the aristocrats." It shows the most humanistic, balanced and honest presentation of the situation of any film on the subject that I have seen.