Night at the Crossroads (1932)

A gang of thieves utilizes a cross-road garage as the hideaway. During their last caper, the gang has accidentally murdered a jewel thief, and the heat is on.

Director:

Jean Renoir

Writers:

Georges Simenon (novel), Jean Renoir (adaptation)

Stars:

Pierre Renoir, Georges Térof, Winna Winifried

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Pierre Renoir	...	Le commissaire Maigret
Georges Térof	...	Lucas (as G. Terof)
Winna Winifried	...	Else Andersen (as Winna Winfried)
Georges Koudria	...	Carl Andersen (as George Koudria)
Dignimont	...	Oscar
G.A. Martin	...	Granjean (as Martin)
Michel Duran	...	Jojo
Jean Gehret	...	Emile Michonnet (as Gehret)
Boulicot	...	Un gendarme
Max Dalban	...	Le docteur (as Dalban)
Roger Gaillard	...	Le boucher (as Gaillard)
Jean Mitry	...	Arsène
Jane Pierson	...	Mme Michonnet
Manuel Raaby	...	Guido (as Rabby)
Lucie Vallat	...	Michelle, la femme d'Oscar

Storyline

A gang of thieves utilizes a cross-road garage as the hideaway. During their last caper, the gang has accidentally murdered a jewel thief, and the heat is on.

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Plot Keywords:

wheel | car | foreigner | garage | investigation | 

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Genres:

Crime | Drama | Mystery

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Details

Country:

France

Language:

French Danish

Release Date:

5 June 1932 (USA)

Also Known As:

Ночь на перекрёстке

Company Credits

Production Co:

Europa Films

Technical Specs

Runtime:

70 min (DVD)

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.20 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Several critics in 1932 noted that there seemed to be certain necessary scenes missing, and queried whether or not the film had been cut. Other sources suggested that some footage shot on location had been lost en route to the film laboratories in Paris. By the time the discrepancies had been discovered, Jean Renoir was already at work on another film and re-takes were impossible. Years later, after Renoir's death, Georges Simenon claimed that Renoir had been deeply unhappy and drinking heavily throughout the shoot (his first marriage had lately broken up) and had simply neglected to film certain necessary scenes. Simenon also said he had been approached to appear in newly-filmed inserts in which he would explain what the missing footage would have contained - an absurd idea which he rejected out of hand.

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Connections

Edited into Histoire(s) du cinéma: Une histoire seule (1989)

User Reviews

enigmatic Renoir

This is a wonderful early look on film based on a crime novel by Georges Simenon. The novel itself is uncharacteristically atmospheric and deliberately unfocused and this was handled beautifully by Jean Renoir with his fog-enshrouded sets and atmosphere. It is missing a reel, as I understand, but the novel itself has sufficient ambiguity to forgive any omission of that sort. The acting, with its melange of accents is fascinating in its own way. The visuals win the day. It's beautiful to look at, exotic and definitely a one-of-a-kind of its genre and hardly "inept".

Curtis Stotlar