Boudu sauvé des eaux (1932)

Director:

Jean Renoir

Writer:

René Fauchois (play)

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 | Paris France | Drowning | Homelessness | Rescue From Drowning

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)

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:

Remade as Boudu (2005)

Soundtrack:

Fin

Great little early Renoir film

"Boudu Saved From Drowning" is hardly one of the director's masterworks (though I have seen it on critics' Top Ten lists that excluded "Rules of the Game" and "Grand Illusion") but it is a fine little film in its own right. The story of the scruffy tramp (Michel Simon in a role quite similar to his in "L'atalante") who is adopted by a wealthy book store owner after the book seller saves him from from drowning himself. Instead of being grateful for the rescue Boudu couldn't care less and makes a genuine mess of his host's home and seduces the man's wife and maid (whom the book seller is also sleeping with on the side).

The film is well photographed, employing the deep-focus photography and smooth camera movement that Renoir would later go on to perfect. Though "Boudu's" satire is not as sharp as that of "Rules" it is much less malicious. This film is out of print in any video format, but hopefully a good re-issue print will find its way back into circulation.