The Last Turning (1939)

Frank, a hobo, ends up in a garage-truck stop in the middle of nowhere. Nick Marino, its older, kind and naive owner, is married to Cora, a sexy and mercenary woman half his age. Frank, ... See full summary »

Director:

Pierre Chenal

Writers:

James M. Cain (novel), Sabine Berritz (translation)

Stars:

Fernand Gravey, Michel Simon, Marcel Vallée

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Fernand Gravey	...	Frank Maurice
Michel Simon	...	Nick Marino
Marcel Vallée	...	Le juge
Auguste Bovério	...	Le prêtre (as Boverio)
René Bergeron	...	Le commissaire (as Bergeron)
Charles Blavette	...	Un camionneur (as Blavette)
Georges Douking	...	Un joueur (as Douking)
Marcel Duhamel	...	Le monsieur pressé (as Duhamel)
Etienne Decroux	...	Le patron du bistrot (as Ducroux)
Pierre Labry	...	Un camionneur (as Labry)
Jean-François Martial	...	L'architecte (as Martial)
Serge Nadaud	...	Le motard (as Nadaud)
Fred Pasquali	...	Un joueur (as Pasquali)
Georges Paulais	...	Le greffier (as Paulais)
Georges Péclet	...	L'assureur (as Peclet)

Storyline

Frank, a hobo, ends up in a garage-truck stop in the middle of nowhere. Nick Marino, its older, kind and naive owner, is married to Cora, a sexy and mercenary woman half his age. Frank, although not a fan of hard work, accepts Nick's offer to work for him. Of course, it is not for Nick's sake that the young man becomes his attendant, but for the love of Cora under whose spell he has fallen at once. It does not take long before Cora, who despises her husband, asks her lover to help her get rid of him. Frank is reluctant at first but.

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Plot Keywords:

condemned to death | fatal accident | car accident | pregnancy | marseille | 

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Genres:

Crime | Drama | Romance

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Did You Know?

Trivia

French visa # 1536 delivered on 23-10-1945.

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Connections

Version of Obsession (1943)

User Reviews

A bend badly taken.

The last line of the movie : "Le jour se lève." (=it's daybreak ) ; it is also the title of Marcel Carné's 1939 masterpiece .It won't be lost on a 2020 audience who knows both works.

Both really fit into the black picture of the situation of the country in 1939;both works were blacklisted by the office catholique du cinema ;Carné's work was even forbidden by the military censorship as demoralizing.

Chenal's work has to be upgraded : it was not the first time he had broached film noir (see "La maison du maltais " and "l'alibi") ,but it was the apex of his pre-war years ;five years after being published in the US ,it took a lot of guts to transfer such a filthy story to the screen; its atmosphere surpasses that of Tay Garnett which looks almost "hollywoodian" compared to it : a murky one ;although the action takes place in the south of France ,never some sunlight does break through on this dark gloomy gas station,even after the owner's death ,or should I say mainly after the murder ; the scene when the couple dances a valse musette to the tune of Simon's accordion looks almost like a danse macabre ;it should be a joyful relief , it's painful to watch.

Of course Michel Simon is prodigious ,but Corinne Luchaire also rises to the occasion ; her playing was modern for the time and she easily outclasses glamorous Lana Turner .Her Cora seems unable to react to events ,she had never been happy (she told it so to Frank) and she knew she never would .She seems to be living in a dream (or a nightmare ) in the "accident" scene . Gravey ,on the other hand , is just okay ,and John Garfield would outshine him.

This movie and "La Foire Aux Chimères" (1946) are Chenal's towering achievements ;in both movies , a man (Simon in this one, Von Stroheim in the other one) is victim of a femme fatale (who is also a victim herself ).

Corinne Luchaire's fate was as cruel as Cora's.

Details

Country:

France

Language:

French

Release Date:

17 May 1939 (France)

Also Known As:

The Last Turning

Filming Locations:

Studios Pathé-Cinema, Joinville-le-pont, Val-de-Marne, France

Company Credits

Production Co:

Gladiator Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

90 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Recording)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1