La Marseillaise **** (1938, Pierre Renoir, Lise Delamare, Louis Jouvet) – Classic Movie Review 8989

Director Jean Renoir’s 1938 historical drama La Marseillaise is his epic account of the French Revolution, which focuses on human interactions instead of on political events.

Financed by trade unions and performed by mostly non-professional actors, this is one of few films truly made by and for the people.

La Marseillaise is rousing in parts rather than overall, with a moving performance by Pierre Renoir as King Louis XVI of France. Lise Delamare of the Comédie Française also scores as Queen Marie-Antoinette and Louis Jouvet is outstanding as Roederer,  le procureur du département.

The director named this box-office failure a favourite film.

Also  in the cast are Lèon Larive, Georges Spanelly, Elisa Ruis, William Aguet, G Lefebvre, Jaque Catelain, Pierre May, Edmond Castel, Aimé Calriond, André Zibral, Jean Aymé, Irène Joachim, Andrex, Edmond Ardrisson, Paul Dullac, Jean-Louis Gilbert, Fernand Flamnet, Alex Truchy, Georges Peclet, Géo Lastry, Adolphe Autran, Nadia Sibirskaia, Jenny Hélia, Julien Carette, Gaston Modot, Severine Lerczinska and Marthe Marty.

La Marseillaise is directed by Jean Renoir, runs 145 minutes, is made by Films La Marseillaise, Compagnie Jean Renoir, Societé d’Exploitation et de Distribution de Films and Confédération Générale du Travail, is released by Réalisation d’art cinématographique (1938), Contemporary Films (1940) (UK) and World Pictures Corporation (1939) (US), is written by Jean Renoir (scenario and dialogue), Carl Koch (collaboration) and N Martel Dreyfus (collaboration), is shot in  black and white by Jean Bourgoin, Jean-Paul Alphen, Jean-Marie Maillols and Alain Douarinou, is produced by Jean Renoir, André Zwoboda (executive producer) and André Seigneur (executive producer), is scored by Joseph Kosma and Henry Sauveplane, and is designed by Léon Barsacq and Georges Wakhévitch.

Executive producers André Zwoboda and André Seigneur worked for the left-wing trade union ‘Confédération Générale du Travail.

Pierre Renoir is the older brother of Jean Renoir, the father of photographer Claude Renoir and the son of Impressionist painter Pierre-Auguste Renoir.

© Derek Winnert 2019 Classic Movie Review 8989

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