Le quai des brumes (1938)

User Rating:

7.6/10   

Director:

Marcel Carné

Writers:

Pierre Dumarchais (novel)
Jacques Prévert (scenario and dialogue)

Release Date:

29 October 1939 (USA)

Genre:

Crime | Drama | Romance

Tagline:

...A Story Which the French Have Put On the Screen With Daring Skill!

Plot:

A military deserter finds love and trouble (and a small dog) in a smoky French port city.

Plot Keywords:

Dog | Deserter | Le Havre | Ship | Male Female Relationship

Awards:

3 wins

Cast

Jean Gabin	...	Jean
Michel Simon	...	Zabel
Michèle Morgan	...	Nelly
Pierre Brasseur	...	Lucien
Édouard Delmont	...	Panama (as Delmont)
Raymond Aimos	...	Quart Vittel (as Aimos)
Robert Le Vigan	...	Le peintre (as Le Vigan)
René Génin	...	Le docteur (as Genin)
Marcel Pérès	...	Le chauffeur (as Perez)
Jenny Burnay	...	L'amie de Lucien
Roger Legris	...	Le garçon d'hôtel (as Legris)
Martial Rèbe	...	Le client

Also Known As:

Port of Shadows (USA)

Runtime:

91 min | Canada:90 min

Country:

France

Language:

French

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Photophone System)

Certification:

USA:TV-14 (TV rating) | USA:Approved | USA:Passed (National Board of Review) | Argentina:Atp | Canada:PG (video rating) | Finland:K-16 | Sweden:15 | West Germany:16 (f) (bw)

Filming Locations:

Le Havre, Seine-Maritime, France

Company:

Ciné-Alliance

Quotes:

Zabel: Funny how blood stains clothes but washes off hands so easily. Ever notice how doctors and surgeons have such clean, white hands? Even though their pretty hands wallow in blood the whole blessed day.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in C'est arrivé près de chez vous (1992)

Not the masterpiece some have claimed

Marcel Carné's status as an auteur has always seemed doubtful to me. Without scripts by Jacques Prévert, what would the interest be in those poetic dramas from the 30's? It is the actors delivering legendary lines that provides all the appeal of Quai des brumes: Gabin evoking the lovely eyes of Michèle Morgan, Le Vigan saying he paints the things behind things, Simon crying out that nobody loves him. The imaginative recreation of life in a seaport never really takes place: the sets look like sets, the sense of place is missing. There is a gunfight at the cafe where Gabin and Morgan meet that is embarrassing in its amateurishness; the actors look like kids playing with cap pistols.

I ask whether Carné had complete control of this film. Pierre Brasseur over-acts terribly; you never look at him as a dangerous thug, rather as a petulant teenager. Michel Simon behind a thick beard does a little scenery chewing himself, but is generally acceptable. Gabin and Morgan must carry the picture on their shoulders, which they do.

Renoir's criticism of the film as fascist doesn't make sense to me. There is no reason for stories to end happily, for lovers to walk away at the end credits. A socialist like Renoir may not want to see bad things happening to good people, or bad people going unpunished, but these things happen in life.