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

• R.A.C. Distribution (1938) (France) (theatrical)
• Studio Canal (2004) (France) (DVD)
• Connaissance du Cinéma (2007) (worldwide) (theatrical)
• Emelka-Filmgesellschaft (1938) (Switzerland) (theatrical)
• Tamasa Distribution (2007) (worldwide) (theatrical)
• World Pictures Corporation (1939) (USA) (theatrical) (subtitled)
• 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:

Portugal:M/12 | Finland:K-16

Filming Locations:

Alsace, France

Company:

Compagnie Jean Renoir

Trivia:

The cast is grouped in 5 categories in the credits: First, 'The Court' (La Cour), then 'The Civil Authorities and the Military' (Les Autorités Civiles & Militaires), 'The Aristocrats' (Les Aristocrates), followed by 'The Marseille Folks' (Les Marseillais) and finally 'The People' (Le Peuple).

Movie Connections:

Featured in Mississippi Mermaid (1969)

Soundtrack:

Musique ancienne

Aristocrats aren't the only ones with stories to tell!

Aside from being a brilliant film, at different times humorous and moving, LA MARSEILLAISE is hands down the most accurate film out there when it comes to the French Revolution.

Some have noted it's "one-sided" aspect, but allow me to make an observation: when royalists want to make a one-sided film on the French Revolution, they... make stuff up! Usually utter bilge, such as THE SCARLET PIMPERNEL or A TALE OF TWO CITIES, films (and original books) whose only basis in historical fact can be summed up as, yes, there was a revolution in France in 1789, and yes indeed, Britain and France are on opposite sides of the Channel. Those who support the republic, on the other hand, have typically had the scruples to actually *do their research* before setting out to mold the public's impressions of so momentous an historical event. Such is the case with LA MARSEILLAISE, where a large percentage of the dialog is taken from historical records. (In fact, the only real complaint one could have as far as historical accuracy goes is costuming, but I've yet to see any film from that era--1938, in this case--that had accurate costumes.)

All this is not to suggest that LA MARSEILLAISE is dull. Far from it! As mentioned before, LA MARSEILLAISE is witty and often poignant. In showing the Revolution from the point of view of ordinary citizens instead of aristocrats or well-known revolutionary leaders, the film shows to what point common citizens were dedicated to the ideals of the Revolution, as well as showing a human side to the "mob" so frequently portrayed.