La femme du boulanger (1938)

User Rating:

7.9/10   

Director:

Marcel Pagnol

Writer:

Jean Giono (novel)

Release Date:

26 February 1940 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Drama

Plot:

In this little Provencal village, a new baker, Aimable, settles down. His wife Aurelie is beautiful and much younger than he...

Plot Keywords:

Bread | Village | Shepherd | Baker | Pernod

Awards:

2 wins

Cast

Raimu	...	Aimable Castanier
Ginette Leclerc	...	Aurélie Castanier
Fernand Charpin	...	Le marquis Castan de Venelles (as Charpin)
Robert Vattier	...	Le curé
Charles Blavette	...	Antonin
Robert Bassac	...	L'instituteur
Marcel Maupi	...	Barnabé (as Maupi)
Alida Rouffe	...	Céleste, la bonne du curé
Odette Roger	...	Miette, la femme d'Antonin
Yvette Fournier	...	Hermine
Maximilienne	...	Melle Angèle (as Maximilienne Max)
Charblay	...	Arsène, le boucher
Julien Maffre	...	Pétugue (as Maffre)
Adrien Legros	...	Barthelemy
Jean Castan	...	Esprit, un berger

Also Known As:

The Baker's Wife (USA)

Runtime:

133 min | West Germany:97 min

Country:

France

Language:

French

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

USA:Not Rated | Finland:K-16 | Sweden:15

Filming Locations:

Le Castellet, Var, France

Company:

Les Films Marcel Pagnol

Trivia:

Marcel Pagnol wrote the part of Aurélie Castanier for Joan Crawford. The American actress declined because she didn't speak French. The part, which has a minimal amount of lines for a title role, went to Ginette Leclerc.

Movie Connections:

Remade as La femme du boulanger (1999) (TV)

incredibly charming story

I really liked this movie a lot--especially because it had such a great ensemble cast. This movie was absolutely stuffed to the brim with characters from this community to give the movie great life and charm. In particular, the acting by Raimu as the baker was dynamite. He is a one-namer (like "Cher") that looks like a slightly skinnier Oliver Hardy and manages to use a wide variety of facial expressions and body language to convey so much emotion. When his heart is broken by his philandering wife, you really find yourself feeling for the guy! Overall, it was extremely well-acted and well-written and I strongly recommend it. However, be forewarned that the videotape by Interama Video Classics is VERY poor quality AND they use white subtitles that are often very hard to read. I don't know why, but almost EVERY French film from the 1930s I have tried to watch on video is almost unwatchable due to the degradation of the print. I'm not sure why this is, but it could easily turn people away from classics like this movie, and that would be quite a loss, as Marcel Pagnol who wrote this film was a true artist and master of his medium.