The Case of Dr. Laurent (1957)
"Le cas du Dr Laurent" (original title)

Director:

Jean-Paul Le Chanois

Writers:

René Barjavel (adaptation), Jean-Paul Le Chanois (adaptation),

Stars:

Jean Gabin, Nicole Courcel, Silvia Monfort

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Jean Gabin	...	Le docteur J. Laurent
Nicole Courcel	...	Francine
Silvia Monfort	...	Catherine Loubet
Henri Arius	...	Le docteur A. Bastid (as Arius)
Daxely	...	M. Simonet, le boulanger
Lucien Callamand	...	M. Bertrand, le directeur de l'école
Josselin	...	M. Roux
Mag-Avril	...	Céline (as Mag Avril)
Marthe Marty	...	La mère de Franchine
Germaine de France	...	Mme Vanolli
Raymone	...	La mère Loubet
Orane Demazis	...	La veuve Escalin
Yvonne Gamy	...	La sage-femme traditionnaliste
Henri-Jacques Huet	...	Antonin Escallin (as Henri Jacques Huet)
Viviane Méry	...	Une habitante

Storyline

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Plot Keywords:

womens liberation | scientific progress | gossip | reactionary | france | 

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Taglines:

Much will be made of the birth scene. It is frank and explicit, leaving no questions unanswered!

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Genres:

Drama

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Details

Country:

France

Language:

French

Release Date:

27 June 1958 (USA)

Also Known As:

The Case of Dr. Laurent

Filming Locations:

Saint-Martin-Vésubie, Alpes-Maritimes, France

Company Credits

Production Co:

Cocinex, Cocinor, Sédif Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

110 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Henri-Jacques Huet's first feature film.

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Soundtracks

"En chemin"
Music by Marguerite Monnot

User Reviews

Painless childbirth.

Nowadays,the simple name of Jean-Paul LeChanois is guaranteed to net nothing but horse-laugh from the highbrows,the "true" movie buffs and of course the afficionados of the indomitable nouvelle vague.

Le Chanois 's work is humanist ,optimistic and does not deserve contempt and disdain:he's only a good storyteller:a directing virtuoso,he's definitely not.A "deep" auteur ,he isn't either.But he has got other qualities:simplicity,spontaneity,and a friendly look at human condition and a real faith in his improvement.

In "l'école buissonnière",long before Comencini ,Truffaut and Tavernier,he urges the teachers to ditch purely theorical training and to teach the children by "doing" ,visiting,experimenting and of course living.It pitted a young schoolteacher(Blier)against a bunch of country reactionary notables:this character was none other than Celestin Freinet who spawned a whole new school of teachers in France and elsewhere.

"Le cas du docteur Laurent" is similar:here a not-so-young doctor (Gabin)tries to explain to women of the fifties(in a small village in the mountain) that painless childbirth is possible,and that the old curses -coming from long ago and far away,check the Genesis-must go.He will meet with macho men,but also submissive women-who will be his strongest enemies-,who still thinks that "the more you suffer,the more you love your baby".To fight such drivel,doctor Laurent expresses himself in astute images.We 've got to realize that what is obvious today was a big revolution then.

The best scene,when the women drive a bus thru the mountain,singing from the bottom of their heart is one of the very first manifesto of women's lib in the French cinema.It may seem naive,passé,but it had to be done at the time.