À nous la liberté (1931)

Director:

René Clair

Writer:

René Clair (story)

Release Date:

31 December 1931 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Musical

Tagline:

Le chef-d'oeuvre de René Clair

Plot:

A famous left-wing satirical comedy about two ex-convicts, one of whom escaped jail and then worked his way up from salesman to factory owner...

Plot Keywords:

Worker | Friend | Factory | Ex Convict | Escape

Awards:

Nominated for Oscar. Another 2 wins

Cast

Henri Marchand	...	Émile
Raymond Cordy	...	Louis
Rolla France	...	Jeanne
Paul Ollivier	...	L'oncle (as Paul Olivier)
Jacques Shelly	...	Paul
André Michaud	...	Le contremaitre
Germaine Aussey	...	Maud - la femme de Louis
Léon Lorin	...	Le vieux monsieur sourd
William Burke	...	L'ancien détenu
Vincent Hyspa	...	Le vieil orateur

Also Known As:

À nous la liberté! (France) (alternative spelling)
Freedom for Us (International: English title)
Liberty for Us (USA)
A Nós a Liberdade (Brazil) [pt]
A me la libertà (Italy) [it]
Agapi, gelio, xenoiasia (Greece) [el]
Es lebe die Freiheit (Germany) [de]
Kaksi onnellista sydäntä (Finland) (TV title) [fi]
Meidän vapaus (Finland) [fi]
Niech zyje wolnosc (Poland) [pl]
Två lyckliga hjärtan (Sweden) [sv]
Viva la libertad (Spain) [es]
Volem la llibertat (Spain: Catalan title) [ca]

Runtime:

104 min | USA:83 min (re-release) | USA:97 min

Country:

France

Language:

French

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.20 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

USA:TV-G (TV rating) | Finland:(Banned) (1950) | UK:U | USA:Approved

Company:

Films Sonores Tobis

Trivia:

When Charles Chaplin's Modern Times (1936) premiered, the original distribution company of À nous la liberté, Tobis, wanted to sue. Director René Clair refused to join such a suit, saying that he considered it a compliment if Charles Chaplin based his film on René Clair's, but the suit went ahead nevertheless. Tobis, sued United Artists and Charles Chaplin for plagiarism. The suit, with separate segments in France and in the US, went on for more than a decade, right through WWII. Charles Chaplin, at the request of his lawyers, finally settled, but never admitted to the charge. René Clair stayed aloof from the affair, and he and Charles Chaplin, whom he greatly admired, remained friends.

Quotes:

[first lines]
[Voice over Singer]: Liberty is the happy man's due / He enjoys love and skies of blue / But then there are some / Who no worse crimes have done / It's the sad story we tell / From a prison cell

Movie Connections:

Featured in "Fejezetek a film történetéböl: A francia lírai realizmus (#1.6)" (1989)

Marvellous early sound film

Clair's À nous la liberté is a wonderful satire of modern mass production, magnificently shot, directed, decently acted and with impressive sets. The satirical content is stressed but not too on-your-face. The main reaction to the film is delight.

Some of the sequences were an obvious inspiration to Chaplin, whose masterpiece Modern Times resembles this film quite a lot both in the way it looks as well as thematically.

The picture and sound quality, at least in the version shown on Finnish TV, are superb which is surprising considering the age of the film.

The music is good and well used, except the songs which are slightly irritating. Still, this is a great and pleasing film with a very amusing scene in the end, taking place at the opening of a new factory.