Les bas-fonds (1936)

User Rating:

7.7/10   

Director:

Jean Renoir

Writers:

Maxim Gorky (play)
Yevgeni Zamyatin (writer) ...
(more)

Release Date:

10 September 1937 (USA)

Genre:

Crime | Drama | Romance

Plot:

The winner of the Louis Delluc Prize as the most outstanding French photo-play of 1936, as selected...

Plot Keywords:

France | Despair | Poverty | Gendarme | Social Class

Awards:

1 win

Cast

Jean Gabin	...	Wasska Pepel
Suzy Prim	...	Vassilissa Kostyleva
Louis Jouvet	...	Le baron / The Baron
Jany Holt	...	Nastia
Vladimir Sokoloff	...	Kostylev
Robert Le Vigan	...	The Alcoholic Actor
Camille Bert	...	The Count
René Génin	...	Louka, the wise old man (as René Genin)
Paul Temps	...	Satine
Robert Ozanne	...	Jabot de Travers
Henri Saint-Isle	...	Kletsch, the cobbler (as Saint-Iles)
Alex Allin
André Gabriello	...	The Inspector
Léon Larive	...	Felix, le majordomo
Nathalie Alexeeff	...	Anna, the dying woman
Maurice Baquet	...	Alochka, the accordion player
Junie Astor	...	Natacha
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Jacques Becker	...	Un promeneur (uncredited)
Fernand Bercher	...	Un officier (uncredited)
Annie Ceres	...	(uncredited)
Irène Joachim	...	La chanteuse (uncredited)
Lucien Mancini	...	Le patron de la guinguette (uncredited)
René Stern	...	L'employé du comte (uncredited)
Sylvain	...	Le greffier de la prison (uncredited)

Directed by
Jean Renoir

Writing credits
Maxim Gorky		(play "Na dnie")
Yevgeni Zamyatin		(writer) (as E. Zamiatine) &
Jacques Companéez		(writer) (as J. Companeez) and
Jean Renoir		(writer) &
Charles Spaak		(writer)
Jean Renoir		(dialogue) &
Charles Spaak		(dialogue)

Produced by
Alexandre Kamenka	....	producer (uncredited)

Original Music by
Jean Wiener

Cinematography by
Fédote Bourgasoff		(as F. Bourgas)
Jean Bachelet		(uncredited)

Film Editing by
Marguerite Renoir		(as Marguerite)

Set Decoration by
Hugues Laurent
Eugène Lourié

Makeup Department
Keldisch	....	key makeup artist

Production Management
Koura	....	unit manager
Vladimir Zederbaum	....	production manager

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Jacques Becker	....	assistant director
Joseph Soiffer	....	assistant director

Sound Department
Robert Ivonnet	....	sound engineer

Camera and Electrical Department
Jacques Mercanton	....	camera operator

Music Department
Roger Desormière	....	music technical advisor

Other crew
Julian Leigh	....	original subtitler: USA
Julia Wolf	....	original subtitler: UK

Production Companies

• Films Albatros

Distributors

• Arthur Mayer & Joseph Burstyn (1937) (USA) (English subtitles)
• Criterion Collection, The (2004) (USA) (DVD)
• KinoVista (2007) (Russia) (TV)

Also Known As:

The Lower Depths (USA) (literal English title)
Underground
Underworld (UK)
Nachtasyl (Austria) (Germany) [de]
Los bajos fondos (Spain) [es]
O Mundo do Vício (Portugal) [pt]
O ypokosmos (Greece) [el]
Sto vytho (Greece) (TV title) [el]
Verso la vita (Italy) [it]
Yömaja (Finland) [fi]

Runtime:

USA:90 min | France:95 min

Country:

France

Language:

French

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Tobis-Klangfilm)

Certification:

USA:Approved | Finland:K-16

Filming Locations:

Bords de la Seine, Epinay-sur-Seine, Seine-Saint-Denis, France

Company:

Films Albatros

Trivia:

Cameo: [Jacques Becker]a silhouette.

Movie Connections:

Featured in Il mio viaggio in Italia (1999)

Another excellent Renoir/Gabin Collaboration

Jean Renoir's version of Gorky's Lower Depths is less faithful to the original than Kurosawa's film, but has its own charm. The film centers on Jean Gabin's character, the thief, and Louis Jouvet's character of the gambling baron, recently reduced to poverty through his embezzling and gambling losses. The scenes with Gabin and Jouvet together are tremendous, including their first meeting where Gabin is robbing Jouvet's mansion, later on lying in the summer grass recalling their past lives and their final parting. The other inhabitants of the flophouse, with a few exceptions, are not as delineated as in the Kurosawa version. This is not an ensemble acting piece like Kurosawa's, but very much a Gabin star vehicle. He and Jouvet really carry the film and make it one of Renoir's best. It's not in the same league as Grand Illusion and Rules of the Game, but very good. Four of 5 stars.