Children of Paradise (1945) Les enfants du paradis (original title)

Director:

Marcel Carné

Writer:

Jacques Prévert (scenario and dialogue)

Release Date:

15 November 1946 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Romance

Plot:

This tragic tale centers around the ill-fated love between Baptiste, a theater mime, and Claire Reine...

Plot Keywords:

Count | Love | Actor | Mime | Actress

Awards:

Nominated for Oscar.

Cast

Arletty	...	Caire Reine, dite Garance
Jean-Louis Barrault	...	Jean-Baptiste Debureau
Pierre Brasseur	...	Frédérick Lemaître
Pierre Renoir	...	Jéricho
María Casares	...	Nathalie (as María Casarès)
Gaston Modot	...	Fil de Soie
Fabien Loris	...	Avril
Marcel Pérès	...	Le directeur des Funambules
Palau	...	Le régisseur des Funambules (as Pierre Palau)
Etienne Decroux	...	Anselme Debureau (as Étienne Decroux)
Jane Marken	...	Mme Hermine (as Jeanne Marken)
Marcelle Monthil	...	Marie
Louis Florencie	...	Le gendarme des 'Adrets'
Habib Benglia	...	L'employé des bains turcs
Rognoni	...	Le directeur du Grand Théâtre
Jacques Castelot	...	Georges
Paul Frankeur	...	L'inspecteur de police
Albert Rémy	...	Scarpia Barrigni
Robert Dhéry	...	Célestin
Auguste Bovério	...	Le premier auteur de 'L'auberge des Adrets' (as Auguste Boverio)
Paul Demange	...	Le deuxième auteur de 'L'auberge des Adrets'
Louis Salou	...	Édouard comte de Montray - l'homme qui épousera Garance
Marcel Herrand	...	Pierre-François Lacenaire
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Jeanne Dussol	...	La femme à barbe
Lucienne Legrand	...	La première jolie théâtreuse (as Lucienne Vigier)
Maurice Schutz	...	L'encaisseur agressé par Lacnaire
Germain Aeros	...	Petit rôle (uncredited)
Joe Alex	...	Petit rôle (uncredited)
Nicolas Bataille	...	Extra (uncredited)
Jean-Pierre Belmon	...	Le petit Baptiste Debureau (uncredited)
Gérard Blain	...	(uncredited)
Bill Bocket	...	Petit rôle (uncredited)
Albert Broquin	...	Petit rôle (uncredited)
Rivers Cadet	...	Un bourgeois (uncredited)
Jean Carmet	...	Un spectateur au paradis des Funambules (uncredited)
Maurice Cartier	...	Petit rôle (uncredited)
Grégoire Chabas	...	Petit rôle (uncredited)
Choisin	...	Petit rôle (uncredited)
Henri de Livry	...	Le client de l'écrivain public (uncredited)
Max Dejean	...	Petit rôle (uncredited)
Jean Diéner	...	Le troisième auteur de 'L'Auberge des Adrets' (uncredited)
Guy Favières	...	Un encaisseur agressé par Lacenaire (uncredited)
Madhyanah Foy	...	Petit rôle (uncredited)
Roger Gaillard	...	Petit rôle (uncredited)
Jean Gold	...	Le deuxième dandy (uncredited)
Gustave Hamilton	...	Le concierge du Grand Théâtre (uncredited)
Josselin	...	Petit rôle (uncredited)
Jean Lanier	...	Iago - dans la représentation d' 'Othello' (uncredited)
Léon Larive	...	Le concierge des Funambules (uncredited)
Lioté	...	Petit rôle (uncredited)
Marcel Melrac	...	Un gendarme (uncredited)
André Numès Fils	...	L'homme qui se fait voler sa montre (uncredited)
Raphaël Patorni	...	Un dandy (uncredited)
Cynette Quero	...	La deuxième jolie théâtreuse (uncredited)
Pierre Réal	...	Petit rôle (uncredited)
Paul Temps	...	Petit rôle (uncredited)
Michel Vadet	...	Petit rôle (uncredited)
Roger Vincent	...	Petit rôle (uncredited)
Lucien Walter	...	Le marchand de billets (uncredited)

Directed by
Marcel Carné

Writing credits
Jacques Prévert		(scenario and dialogue)

Produced by
Raymond Borderie	....	producer: Pathé Cinéma
Adrien Remaugé	....	producer

Original Music by
Maurice Thiriet

Cinematography by
Roger Hubert

Film Editing by
Henri Rust		(as Henry Rust)
Madeleine Bonin		(uncredited)

Production Design by
Léon Barsacq		(as Leon Barsacq)
Raymond Gabutti
Alexandre Trauner		(as Alex. Trauner)

Art Direction by
Léon Barsacq		(as Leon Barsacq)
Raymond Gabutti

Costume Design by
Mayo

Production Management
Fred Orain	....	production manager
Louis Théron	....	unit manager

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Pierre Blondy	....	artistic assistant director
Bruno Tireux	....	technical assistant director

Art Department
Alexandre Trauner	....	collaborator: sets (as Alex. Trauner)
Fourrastier	....	original poster designer (uncredited)

Sound Department
Jacques Carrère	....	sound re-recording mixer
Jean Monchablon	....	sound
Robert Teisseire	....	sound engineer

Camera and Electrical Department
Roger Forster	....	still photographer
Marc Fossard	....	camera operator

Music Department
Joseph Kosma	....	composer: pantomime music
Joseph Kosma	....	music collaborator
Charles Münch	....	conductor

Other crew
Gilles Margaritis	....	assistant: pantomimes

Production Companies

• Société Nouvelle Pathé Cinéma

Distributors

• Pathé Consortium Cinéma (1945) (France) (theatrical)
• Tricolore (1946) (USA) (theatrical) (subtitled) (edited)
• Internationale Filmallianz (IFA) (1947) (Germany) (theatrical)
• René Chateau Video (1999) (France) (VHS)
• Pathé (2006) (France) (DVD)
• Compagnie Française de Distribution Cinématographique (CFDC) (????) (France) (theatrical) (re-release)
• New Star (2011) (Greece) (theatrical) (re-release)
• Zazie Films (2005) (Japan) (theatrical) (re-release)
• 01 Distribution (2008) (Italy) (DVD)
• A-Film Home Entertainment (2005) (Netherlands) (DVD)
• Criterion Collection, The (1992) (USA) (VHS) (laserdisc)
• Criterion Collection, The (2002) (USA) (DVD)
• Umbrella Entertainment (2003) (Australia) (DVD)
• Versátil Home Vídeo (2002) (Brazil) (DVD)

Other Companies

• Orchestre de la Société des Concerts du Conservatoire  music performers (as La Société des Concerts du Conservatoire)
• Pathé-Cinéma  studio: Paris-Joinville
• La Victorine  studio: Nice
• Laboratories Pathé Cinéma  titles
• Lanvin  costume makers (uncredited)
• Lobster Films  sound restoration
• Ramsès  recording studio: Restauration du son 1991

Also Known As:

"Les enfants du paradis" - France (original title)

Runtime:

USA:163 min (edited) | France:190 min

Country:

France

Language:

French

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Brazil:18 | West Germany:12 | Japan:G (2010) | Australia:PG | Finland:K-16 | Sweden:15 | Sweden:7 (1986) | UK:PG | USA:Approved

Filming Locations:

Nice, Alpes-Maritimes, France

Company:

Société Nouvelle Pathé Cinéma

Trivia:

When Italy fell to the Nazis, the Italian co-producers left the project, causing a financial vacuum.

Goofs:

Continuity: The positions of Avril and Lacenaire in the Turkish baths changes between the shot of their entry and the closer shot.

Quotes:

Man in the audience:Shut up! We can't hear the pantomime!

Movie Connections:

Featured in Z Channel: A Magnificent Obsession (2004) (TV)

A True Masterpiece

CHILDREN OF PARADISE has a history almost as remarkable as the film itself. Production was just beginning when Paris fell to the Nazis; the work was subsequently filmed piecemeal over a period of several years, much of it during the height of World War II. And yet astonishingly, this elaborate portrait of 19th Century French theatre and the people who swirl through it shows little evidence of the obvious challenges faced by director Marcel Carne, his cast, and his production staff. CHILDREN OF PARADISE seems to have been created inside a blessed bubble of imagination, protected from outside forces by the sheer power of its own being.

The story is at once simple and extremely complex. A mime named Baptiste (Jean-Louis Barrault) falls in love with a street woman known as Garance (Arletty)--and through a series of coincidences and his own love for her finds the inspiration to become one of the most beloved stage artists of his era. But when shyness causes him to avoid consummation of the romance, Baptiste loses Garance to her own circle of admirers--a circle that includes a vicious member of the Paris underworld (Marcel Herrand), rising young actor (Pierre Brasseur), and an egotistical and jealous aristocrat (Louis Salou.) With the passage of time, Garance recognizes that she loves Baptiste as deeply as he does her... but now they must choose between each other and the separate lives they have created for themselves.

While the film is sometimes described as dreamy in tone, it would be more appropriately described as dreamy in tone but extremely earthy in content. Instead of giving us a glamorous portrait of life in theatre, it presents 19th Century theatre as it actually was: dominated by noisy audiences perfectly capable of riot, the actors usually poor and hungry and mixing freely with criminal elements, the desperate struggle to rise above the chaos to create something magical on stage. And while the film is not sexually explicit by any stretch of the imagination, by 1940s standards CHILDREN OF PARADISE was amazingly frank in its portrayal of Garance's often casual liaisons; American cinema would not achieve anything similar for another twenty years.

Everything about the film seems to swirl in a riot of people, costumes, and overlapping relationships, a sort of mad confusion of life lived in a very elemental manner. And the cast carries the director's vision to perfection. Jean-Louis Barrault is both a brilliant actor and brilliant mime, perfectly capturing the strange innocence his role requires; the famous Arletty offers a divine mixture of exhaustion, sensuality, and self-awareness that makes Garance and her fatal attraction uniquely believable. And these performances do not stand in isolation: there is not a false note in the entire cast, the roles of which cover virtually every level of society imaginable.

With its complex story, vivid performances, and stunning set pieces, the film has a longer running time than one might expect, and some may feel it is slow; I myself, however, did not read it as slow so much as precise. It takes the time to allow the characters and their various stories to develop fully in the viewer's mind. I must also note that while a knowledge of theatre history isn't required to fall under the spell of this truly fascinating film, those who do have that background will find it particularly appealing. CHILDREN OF PARADISE is one of the few films that can be viewed repeatedly, one of the truly great masterpieces of cinema. Strongly, strongly recommended.

Gary F. Taylor, aka GFT, Amazon Reviewer