Boudu sauvé des eaux (1932)

User Rating:

7.7/10   

Director:

Jean Renoir

Writer:

René Fauchois (play)
(more)

Release Date:

23 February 1967 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy

Plot:

Boudu, a tramp, jumps into the Seine. He is rescued by Mr Lestingois, a gentle and good bookseller, who gives shelter to him...

Plot Keywords:

Tramp | Homeless | Paris France | Rescue From Drowning | Suicide Attempt

Cast

Michel Simon	...	Priape Boudu
Marcelle Hainia	...	Emma Lestingois
Sévérine Lerczinska	...	Chloë Anne Marie, la bonne
Jean Gehret	...	Vigour
Max Dalban	...	Godin
Jean Dasté	...	L'étudiant
Charles Granval	...	Édouard Lestingois (as Charles Granval Sociétaire de la Comédie Française)
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Jacques Becker	...	Le poète (uncredited)
Georges D'Arnoux	...	Un invité à la noce (uncredited)
Régine Lutèce	...	La promeneuse (uncredited)
Jane Pierson	...	Rose, la voisine (uncredited)

Directed by
Jean Renoir

Writing credits
René Fauchois		(play)
Jean Renoir		screenplay (uncredited)
Albert Valentin		screenplay (uncredited)

Produced by
Michel Simon	....	producer (uncredited)

Cinematography by
Georges Asselin		(as Asselin)
Marcel Lucien		(lighting cameraman)

Film Editing by
Suzanne de Troeye
Marguerite Renoir		(uncredited)

Production Design by
Jean Castanyer		(as Castanier)
Hugues Laurent		(as Laurent)

Production Management
Clément Ollier	....	unit manager
Jean Gehret	....	production manager (uncredited)

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Jacques Becker	....	assistant director
Georges D'Arnoux	....	assistant director (uncredited)

Sound Department
Igor B. Kalinovski	....	sound (as Kalinowski)

Camera and Electrical Department
Jean-Paul Alphen	....	assistant camera (uncredited)

Music Department
Jean Boulze	....	musician: flute solo (as J. Boulze)
Edouard Dumoulin	....	chorus

Production Companies

• Les Établissements Jacques Haïk (presents)
• Les Productions Michel Simon
• Crédit Cinématographique Français (CCF) (support) (as CCF)

Distributors

• Les Établissements Jacques Haïk (1932) (France) (theatrical)
• Contemporary Films (2006) (UK) (all media)
• Criterion Collection, The (2005) (USA) (DVD)
• Grapevine Video (199?) (USA) (video) (English subtitles)
• Kinokuniya (2007) (Japan) (DVD) (box set)
• Pathé Contemporary Films (1967) (USA) (subtitled)
• Pathé (2006) (France) (DVD) (for series 'Pathé Classique')
• Pathé (2006) (worldwide) (all media) (sales)
• René Chateau Video (2002) (France) (DVD)
• Umbrella Entertainment (2007) (Australia) (DVD)

Other Companies

• Studios Éclair, Épinay-Sur-Seine  recording studio (as Éclair d'Epinay)

Also Known As:

Boudu Saved from Drowning (USA)
Boudu (Finland) (TV title) [fi]
Boudu - Aus den Wassern gerettet (Germany) [de]
Boudu Querido (Portugal) [pt]
Boudu eli miten välttyä hukkumasta (Finland) [fi]
Boudu salvado de las aguas (Spain) [es]
Boudu salvato dalle acque (Italy) [it]

Runtime:

France:85 min

Country:

France

Language:

French

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1:19 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Tobis-Klangfilm)

Certification:

Argentina:Atp | Australia:PG | Finland:S

Filming Locations:

Berges de la Seine, Paris, France

Company:

Les Établissements Jacques Haïk

Trivia:

The poet on the bench at the beginning is Jacques Becker, assistant director for that movie. He later directed Casque d'or (1952) and other famous movies.

Quotes:

Édouard Lestingois: The man who spits in Balzac's "Physiology of Marriage" is less than nothing to me.
Priape Boudu: Who is that man?
Édouard Lestingois: Ask my wife.

Movie Connections:

Featured in Jean Renoir: Part One - From La Belle Époque to World War II (1993) (TV)

Soundtrack:

Danube bleu (An der Schönen, blauen Donau)

One of Renoir's best

One of the aspects to the films that I have seen of Jean Renoir so far (this, Rules of the Game, Grand Illusion, and La Bete Humaine) is that some of the more humorous or theatrical moments are given a total bed of humanity to fall back on. And, in some ways the film works on a kind of double edged sword that is surprising for a film coming from this era. It sometimes has some really hard edged, social-satire type moments involving the homeless man in a more upscale setting wreaking minor havoc. But it's also at the core full of humanity, and even the bourgeois are not necessarily 'bad' characters in the film (at one point, the man of the house sings a random song to himself, little moments like that).

Boudu, played with utter sublime "old-school" comic timing by Michael Simon, is a homeless man with a black dog. When the dog goes missing, he just sulks around for a while, taking that fateful plunge into the water. When some upper-class types, the Lestingois, come to his rescue and give him their place to stay, things start to slowly go awry. From here Renoir laces some comedy of class, some bits of romantic interludes, and little flights of fancy that give the picture's 80 minute running time a perfect fit. This is also a really well-woven together film as well, meaning all of the little touches (a band playing out in the streets, the occasional daring with the lens/camera, the little quirks all in Simon's performance as well as some others) are put into this seemingly broad story of a fish out of water, if you'll forgive the expression. It may seem not as fluid as some of Renoir's latest films, but it really isn't at times; Renoir is really working with a new form here by way of the advent of sound, and yet his presence is in every frame, setting it apart from other tales of this sort. And such wonderful music as well. This is the one Renoir film, ironically at the shortest length of those I've seen, that I can't wait the most to see again.