La bandera (1935)

User Rating:

7.1/10   

Director:

Julien Duvivier

Writers:

Pierre Dumarchais (novel)
Julien Duvivier (adaptation) ...
(more)

Release Date:

2 May 1939 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Romance

Plot:

Pierre Gilieth has committed a murder in Paris. He flees to Barcelona, where he runs out of money. So he joins the Spanish Foreign Legion...

Plot Keywords:

France | Spanish Foreign Legion | Soldier | Spanish | Siege

Cast

Annabella	...	Aischa la Slaoui
Jean Gabin	...	Pierre Gilieth
Robert Le Vigan	...	Fernando Lucas
Raymond Aimos	...	Marcel Mulot
Pierre Renoir	...	Le capitaine Weller
Gaston Modot	...	Le légionnaire Muller
Margo Lion	...	Planche-à-Pain
Charles Granval	...	Le ségovien
Reine Paulet	...	Rosita
Viviane Romance	...	La fille de Barcelone
Jesús Castro Blanco	...	Le sergent
Robert Ozanne	...	Le légionnaire tatoué
Maurice Lagrenée	...	Siméon
Louis Florencie	...	Gorlier
Little Jacky	...	Le légionnaire Weber
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Robert Ancelin	...	Le lieutenant (uncredited)
René Bergeron	...	(uncredited)
Paul Demange	...	L'importun de l'auberge (uncredited)
Marcel Lupovici	...	Un légionnaire (uncredited)
Rafael Medina	...	(uncredited)
Suzy Prim	...	(uncredited)
Noël Roquevert	...	Le sergent instructeur (uncredited)

Directed by
Julien Duvivier

Writing credits
Pierre Dumarchais		(novel "La Bandera") (as Pierre MacOrlan)
Julien Duvivier		(adaptation and screenplay) and
Charles Spaak		(adaptation and screenplay)

Produced by
André Gargour	....	producer (as A. Gargour)

Original Music by
Roland Manuel
Jean Wiener

Cinematography by
Jules Kruger

Film Editing by
Marthe Poncin

Art Direction by
Jacques Krauss

Production Management
Maurice Juven	....	production manager

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Jesús Castro Blanco	....	assistant director
Robert Vernay	....	assistant director

Art Department
Clément Hurel	....	poster artist

Sound Department
Georges Gérardot	....	sound
Marcel Petiot	....	sound
Robert Teisseire	....	sound (as Teyssere)

Camera and Electrical Department
Marc Fossard	....	camera operator

Thanks
Francisco Franco	....	film dedicated to

Production Companies

• Société Nouvelle de Cinématographie (SNC)

Distributors

• Orbis Film (1936) (Austria) (theatrical)
• J.H. Hoffberg Company (1939) (USA) (theatrical) (English subtitles)

Other Companies

• Traonouez (Paris)  costumes (uncredited)

Also Known As:

Escape from Yesterday (USA) (reissue title)
La grande relève (France)
Bandera (Greece) [el]
Die Liebesgasse von Marokko (Austria) [de]
Kompanie der Verlorenen (Germany) [de]

Runtime:

96 min | USA:88 min

Country:

France

Language:

French

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

USA:Approved | USA:Passed (National Board of Review)

Filming Locations:

Morocco

Company:

Société Nouvelle de Cinématographie (SNC)

Trivia:

The movie was initially dedicated to Colonel Franco and his troops. The dedication was removed after the Spanish civil war.

Movie Connections:

Featured in A Good Year (2006)

Les Miserables meets Beau Geste

I grabbed La Bandara because it reunited Jean Gabin and Julien Duvivier, whose Pepe le Moko is a noir masterpiece. I'll give it a few points because Gabin is in it, but the clumsy plot, cheap sets and the ludicrous Annabella making like an Arab princess put the film on my `to sell' shelf. If you watch it, you'll find yourself asking, why didn't the idiots build the fort *around* the well, instead of a deadly few yards away from it. And why use tin roofs in the middle of the desert? But by then the sheer perversity of contrivance that makes up the script should numb you to any further contemplation.