La traversée de Paris (1956)

User Rating:

7.6/10   

Director:

Claude Autant-Lara

Writers:

Marcel Aymé (short story) and
Jean Aurenche (dialogue)
(more)

Release Date:

26 October 1956 (France)

Genre:

Comedy

Plot:

Two men, a painter and a poor guy have to cross over Paris by night during world war II and nazi occupation to delivery black market meat...

Plot Keywords:

Nazi | Black Market | Pork | Nazi Uniform | Nazi Soldier

Awards:

Nominated for BAFTA Film Award. Another 2 wins & 1 nomination

Cast

Jean Gabin	...	Grandgil
Bourvil	...	Marcel Martin
Jeannette Batti	...	Mariette Martin
Georgette Anys	...	Lucienne Couronne, la patronne du cafe Belotte
Robert Arnoux	...	Marchandot
Laurence Badie	...	La serveuse du restaurant
Myno Burney	...	Angèle Marchandot
Germaine Delbat	...	Une cliente du restaurant
Monette Dinay	...	Madame Jambier
Jean Dunot	...	Alfred Couronne, le patron du cafe Belotte
Bernard La Jarrige	...	Un agent de police (as Bernard Lajarrige)
Jacques Marin	...	Le patron du restaurant Saint Martin
Hubert de Lapparent	...	L'otage nerveux
Hans Verner	...	Le motard (as Jean Verner)
Hugues Wanner	...	Le père de Dédé (as Hugues Waner)
Louis de Funès	...	Jambier, l'épicier
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Martine Alexis	...	(uncredited)
Béatrice Arnac	...	La femme arrêtée (uncredited)
Paul Barge	...	Le paysan (uncredited)
Georges Bever	...	Un consommateur (uncredited)
René Brun	...	(uncredited)
Anne Carrère	...	(uncredited)
Yvonne Claudie	...	(uncredited)
Anne Cuvelier	...	(uncredited)
Yvette Cuvelier	...	(uncredited)
Anouk Ferjac	...	La jeune fille patriote (uncredited)
Clément Harari	...	L'otage à lunettes (uncredited)
René Hell	...	Le père de Jambier (uncredited)
Henri Lambert	...	Bit part (uncredited)
Albert Michel	...	Le concierge de la rue de Turenne (uncredited)
Michèle Nadal	...	(uncredited)
Hubert Noël	...	Le gigolo arrêté (uncredited)
Maryse Paillet	...	Une femme au restaurant (uncredited)
Claude Vernier	...	Le secrétaire de la Kommandatur (uncredited)
Jean Vinci	...	Le client mécontent (uncredited)
Louis Viret	...	Le cycliste (uncredited)
Harald Wolff	...	Le commandant allemand (uncredited)

Directed by
Claude Autant-Lara

Writing credits
Marcel Aymé		(short story)
Jean Aurenche		dialogue
Jean Aurenche		screenplay
Pierre Bost		dialogue
Pierre Bost		screenplay

Produced by
Henry Deutschmeister	....	producer

Original Music by
René Cloërec

Cinematography by
Jacques Natteau

Film Editing by
Madeleine Gug

Production Design by
Max Douy

Production Management
André Hoss	....	unit manager
Yves Laplanche	....	production manager

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Ghislaine Autant-Lara	....	first assistant director

Art Department
Clément Hurel	....	poster artist (uncredited)

Sound Department
René-Christian Forget	....	sound engineer (as René Forget)

Camera and Electrical Department
Gilbert Chain	....	camera operator

Other crew
Geneviève Cortier	....	script girl
Herman G. Weinberg	....	English subtitles

Production Companies

• Continental Produzione
• Franco London Films

Distributors

• Société Nouvelle des Acacias (1967) (France) (theatrical) (re-release)
• Société des Etablissements L. Gaumont
• Trans Lux (1957) (USA) (subtitled)

Other Companies

• Poste Parisien  sound recording

Also Known As:

Four Bags Full (USA)
La traversata di Parigi (Italy)
Pig Across Paris (UK)
Pigs Across Paris (UK)
The Trip Across Paris (International: English title) (literal title)
La travesía de París (Spain) [es]
Mustaa lihaa Pariisissa (Finland) [fi]
Paris yolculugu (Turkey: Turkish title) [tr]
Svart gris i Paris (Sweden) [sv]
Svart kött i Paris (Finland: Swedish title) [sv]
Zwei Mann, ein Schwein und die Nacht von Paris (West Germany) [de]

Runtime:

80 min

Country:

France | Italy

Language:

French | German

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Sound System)

Certification:

Finland:K-12 | Sweden:15

Filming Locations:

Franstudio, Saint-Maurice, Val-de-Marne, France

Company:

Continental Produzione

Trivia:

Filmed in color but processed in black and white.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Une époque formidable... (1991)

Soundtrack:

La Marseillaise

Bourvil and Gabin at their funniest

The bringing together of two great comic actors of the calibre of Jean Gabin and Bourvil could not fail to be a great success, but this film surpasses the audience's expectations by several hundred kilometres. For both actors, this is a real tour de force. Bourvil is the hapless stooge to Gabin's outrageously forceful character, and the double act is unbelievably funny. One can't help but have pity for the poor unemployed Parisian as his night-time trudge across Paris is turned into his worst nightmare.

Whilst much of the humour is in the performance of its two stars (joined by Louis de Funes in that amazing cellar scene near the start of the film), the script is well-written and genuinely funny in places. The menace of the Nazi threat is there all the same, and this is heightened by the darkened sets representing a deserted Paris, resounding with the distant tread of the German patrols. The last twenty minutes of the film is a distinct contrast to what preceded it, and the humour appears to fade very quickly into drama. Luckily, our heroes emerge unscathed (possibly), but the threat of what might have been substantially changes one's view of the film.

Needless to say, when this film was released in 1956, scarcely 10 years after the end of the Second World War, it was widely reviled. It presented a view of the occupation that, whilst honest and accurate in retrospect, had never before been seen in French cinema and which was simply too much for many to stomach. Gabin's character was a particular target for scorn, representing a cynical free-thinking attitude that could only be regarded as dangerous and anti-Republican. The film's director, Claude Autant-Lara, should be credited with immense courage in presenting to the French people his perception of the war, unadulterated by the constraints of convention. That he should achieve this through one of the funniest of French films is a remarkable achievement.