La belle équipe (1936)

Director:

Julien Duvivier

Writers:

Julien Duvivier (writer)
Charles Spaak (writer)

Release Date:

31 May 1938 (USA)

Genre:

Drama

Plot:

Those five are unemployed penniless workers. Together they win 100,000 Francs with the national lottery...

Plot Keywords:

Riverside | River | Friendship | Marne River | Song

Cast

Jean Gabin	...	Jean dit Jeannot
Charles Vanel	...	Charles dit Charlot
Raymond Aimos	...	Raymond dit Tintin
Viviane Romance	...	Gina
Jacques Baumer	...	Monsieur Jubette
Marcelle Géniat	...	La grand' mère
Raymond Cordy	...	L'ivrogne
Charles Granval	...	Le propriétaire
Micheline Cheirel	...	Huguette
Rafael Medina	...	Mario (as Raphaël Medina)
Charles Dorat	...	Jacques
Robert Lynen	...	René
Robert Ozanne	...	Le patron du bistrot
Robert Moor	...	Un locataire
Marcel Maupi	...	Un copain (as Maupi)
Marcelle Yrven	...	L'amie de Jubette
Fernand Charpin	...	Le gendarme
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Catherine Carrey	...	(uncredited)
Teddy Dargy	...	Une locataire (uncredited)
Paul Demange	...	Un locataire (uncredited)
Edith Gallia	...	(uncredited)
Claire Gérard	...	(uncredited)
Vincent Hyspa	...	Le photographe (uncredited)
Roger Legris	...	Le garçon de café (uncredited)
Palmyre Levasseur	...	Une locataire (uncredited)
Victor Marceau	...	L'accordéoniste (uncredited)
Jean Marconi	...	Le maquereau (uncredited)
Franck Maurice	...	Un locataire (uncredited)
Robert Ralphy	...	Un locataire (uncredited)
Andrée Servilanges	...	(uncredited)
Vyola Vareyne	...	(uncredited)
Michèle Verly	...	L'amie d'Huguette (uncredited)

Directed by
Julien Duvivier

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Julien Duvivier		writer
Charles Spaak		writer

Original Music by
Maurice Yvain

Cinematography by
Marc Fossard
Jules Kruger

Film Editing by
Marthe Poncin

Art Direction by
Jacques Krauss

Sound Department
Antoine Archimbaud	....	sound

Camera and Electrical Department
Walter Limot	....	photographer

Production Companies

• Ciné-Arys

Distributors

• Self (1936) (France) (theatrical)
• Société Nouvelle des Acacias (????) (France) (theatrical) (re-release)
• Weltfilm-Vereinigung (1937) (Austria) (theatrical)
• Lenauer International Films (1938) (USA) (subtitled)

Also Known As:

Jours de Pâques (France) (working title)
They Were Five (International: English title)
Jean Pariisista (Finland) [fi]
La bella brigata (Italy) [it]
La belle équipe (Austria) [de]
O pothos tis amartias (Greece) [el]
Vier Freunde (Austria) (reissue title) [de]
Zünftige Bande (Germany) [de]

Runtime:

Germany:100 min | France:101 min

Country:

France

Language:

French

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA High Fidelity)

Certification:

Finland:K-16 | Germany:16

Company:

Ciné-Arys

A pillar of 1930's French Cinema

Shot in 1936 on the Banks of The Marne river some 5 miles from Paris, La Belle Equipe constituted a milestone in French Cinema. Coinciding with the advent of the " Front Populaire ", the film is today remembered for the scenes in the guinguette and the beautiful valse musette " Quand on s'promène au bord de l'eau " sung by actor Jean Gabin and accompanied by roving accordionist Albert Deprince. The film is about a group of factory workers who win the lottery and club together to construct a guingette ( dance hall ) on the banks of the Marne between Nogent and Joinville. All starts well but quarrels develop and women get in the way ! There are in fact two endings, a happy one reluctantly made by director Duvivier to please the public, and a pessmistic one which was the director's own personal choice. For some strange reason the pessimistic ending is always subtitled in German !!! Easily available on VHS cassette in France, hopefully will one day be issued on DVD. You may visit today by riverboat the area where the film was shot and until a few years ago could see the actual remains of the "guinguette" built specially for the film !!