Port of Shadows (1938) Le quai des brumes (original title)

Director:

Marcel Carné

Writers:

Pierre Dumarchais (novel)
Jacques Prévert (scenario and dialogue)

Release Date:

29 October 1939 (USA)

Genre:

Crime | Drama | Romance | Thriller

Tagline:

...A Story Which the French Have Put On the Screen With Daring Skill!

Plot:

A military deserter finds love and trouble (and a small dog) in a smoky French port city.

Plot Keywords:

Dog | Ship | Love | Luck | Dream

Awards:

4 wins

Cast

Jean Gabin	...	Jean
Michel Simon	...	Zabel
Michèle Morgan	...	Nelly
Pierre Brasseur	...	Lucien
Édouard Delmont	...	Panama (as Delmont)
Raymond Aimos	...	Quart Vittel (as Aimos)
Robert Le Vigan	...	Le peintre (as Le Vigan)
René Génin	...	Le docteur (as Genin)
Marcel Pérès	...	Le chauffeur (as Perez)
Jenny Burnay	...	L'amie de Lucien
Roger Legris	...	Le garçon d'hôtel (as Legris)
Martial Rèbe	...	Le client
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Léo Malet	...	Soldier (uncredited)
Marcel Melrac	...	(uncredited)
Raymond Pélissier	...	(uncredited)
Raphaël	...	Un complice (uncredited)
Claude Walter	...	L'orphelin (uncredited)

Directed by
Marcel Carné

Writing credits
Pierre Dumarchais		(novel) (as Pierre Mac Orlan)
Jacques Prévert		(scenario and dialogue)

Produced by
Gregor Rabinovitch	....	producer (uncredited)

Original Music by
Maurice Jaubert

Cinematography by
Eugen Schüfftan		(as E. Schufftan)

Film Editing by
René Le Hénaff		(as R. Le Hénaff)

Production Design by
Alexandre Trauner		(as Trauner)

Costume Design by
Coco Chanel		(uncredited)

Production Management
Ludmilla Goulian	....	unit manager (as Mme Goulian)
Simon Schiffrin	....	production manager

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Claude Walter	....	assistant director (as Walter)

Art Department
Clément Hurel	....	poster artist

Sound Department
Antoine Archimbaud	....	sound engineer (as Archimbaud)

Camera and Electrical Department
Henri Alekan	....	camera operator (as Alekan)
Marc Fossard	....	camera operator (as Fossard)
Roger Kahan	....	still photographer (as R. Kahan)
Louis Page	....	camera operator (as Page)

Editorial Department
A. Chourat	....	assistant editor

Other crew
Marcel Carné	....	story editor

Production Companies

• Ciné-Alliance

Distributors

• Les Films Osso (1938) (France) (theatrical)
• StudioCanal (2001) (France) (theatrical) (special edition)
• Film Alliance of the United States Inc. (1939) (USA) (theatrical) (subtitled)
• Neue Filmkunst Walter Kirchner (????) (West Germany) (theatrical)
• Pallas (1955) (West Germany) (theatrical)
• Rialto Pictures (2012) (USA) (theatrical) (reissue)
• Arthaus Filmverleih (2012) (Germany) (DVD)
• Connoisseur Video Collection (1993) (USA) (VHS) (subtitled)
• Criterion Collection, The (2004) (USA) (DVD)
• Janus Films (1995) (USA) (all media)
• Reelclassicdvd.com (2004) (USA) (DVD)

Other Companies

• Pathé  sound laboratory
• Traonouez (Paris)  costumes (uncredited)

Also Known As:

"Le quai des brumes" - France (original title)

Runtime:

91 min | Canada:90 min

Country:

France

Language:

French

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Photophone System)

Certification:

Canada:PG (video rating) | Finland:K-16 | Sweden:15 | West Germany:16 (f) (bw) | USA:TV-14 (TV rating) | USA:Approved | USA:Passed (National Board of Review) | Argentina:Atp

Filming Locations:

Le Havre, Seine-Maritime, France

Company:

Ciné-Alliance

Quotes:

Le peintre:I painted flowers, women and children. It's like I painted the crime right into them. I'd see crime in a rose.

Movie Connections:

Featured in Things I Like, Things I Don't Like (1989)

Thirty Years Ahead of Its Time

The version I watched is the one released in 2004 on Criterion. This comes with a 30-page booklet with an essay by Luc Sante and an excerpt from Marcel Carne's autobiography. The DVD has a very clear picture and crisp sound. I found the story quite interesting and was impressed by each the actors. There is one scene which makes use of classical music during a moment of violence. It made me think of a movie made much later, Stanley Kubrick's A CLOCKWORK ORANGE. PORT OF SHADOWS is about degrees of violence. The adolescent thugs who terrorize the little port city of Le Havre have no idea of what is hidden in the lives of the two protagonists: A soldier who has deserted the army after going through something unspeakable in Tonkin and the urbane middle-aged man who has had enough of losing. I think the inevitability of the events in this movie bothers many people who have reviewed it on this database. It doesn't bother me.