Le Jour Se Leve (1939)

After committing a murder, a man locks himself in his apartment and recollects the events that led him to the killing.

Director:

Marcel Carné

Writers:

Jacques Viot (original scenario), Jacques Prévert (dialogue)

Stars:

Jean Gabin, Jacqueline Laurent, Arletty

1 nomination.

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Jean Gabin	...	François
Jules Berry	...	M. Valentin
Arletty	...	Clara
Mady Berry	...	La concierge
René Génin	...	Le concierge (as Genin)
Arthur Devère	...	Mr. Gerbois (as Arthur Devere)
René Bergeron	...	Le patron du café (as Bergeron)
Bernard Blier	...	Gaston
Marcel Pérès	...	Paulo (as Peres)
Germaine Lix	...	La chanteuse
Gabrielle Fontan	...	La vieille dame dans l'escalier
Jacques Baumer	...	Le commissaire
Jacqueline Laurent	...	Françoise

Storyline

Francois, a sympathetic factory worker, kills Valentin with a gun. He locked himself in his furnished room and starts remembering how he was led to murder. He met once Francoise, a young fleurist, and they fell in love. But Francoise was gotten round by Valentin, a dog trainer, a machiavellian guy...

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Plot Keywords:

murder | factory worker | parisian suburb | suicide by gunshot | tragic love | 

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Genres:

Crime | Drama | Romance | Thriller

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Certificate:

Not Rated

Details

Country:

France

Language:

French

Release Date:

29 July 1940 (USA)

Also Known As:

Le Jour Se Leve

Filming Locations:

Paris Studios Cinéma, Billancourt, Hauts-de-Seine, France

Box Office

Opening Weekend USA:

$11,864, 16 November 2014

Gross USA:

$35,321

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$35,321

Company Credits

Production Co:

Productions Sigma

Technical Specs

Runtime:

93 min 88 min (Janus print)

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Wide Range Sound System)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

RKO remade this film as The Long Night (1947) and tried to have all this film's original prints destroyed.

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Quotes

M. Valentin: You're the type women fall in love with . . . I'm the type that interests them.

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Connections

Featured in TCM Guest Programmer: David Mamet (2007)

User Reviews

A tragedy of everyday proportions

We see a man shot; who he is and why we don't know. The murderer has locked himself inside his room. Police are forced to shoot in, trying to get him to surrender. The story then proceeds in flashback.

Marcel Carné directs this famous French film starring Jean Gabin. The two had worked together the previous year on "Le quai des brumes", a film well known then and now. If you are unfamiliar with Gabin, he was to the late 1930's in France what Bogey would be shortly in America, only Bogey with a soupçon of Cagney. More animated than Bogart, but less than Cagney with his agile song-and-dance-man side. A tough guy who's actually a good guy.

Now, a soft-hearted tough guy who's surrounded by police -- that could also describe Bogart's breakthrough film, "High Sierra", from 1941, and perhaps there is some superficial similarity.

However, this story is mostly a tale of love affairs and working class life -- that's really where its interest lies. There's a real sympathy here for the common man, when even a modest house on a rutted street would seem beyond his reach.

This film's original reputation may have been based at least in part on its Gallic openness about sexual matters. It's quite outré by the Anglo-Saxon standards of 1939. Regardless, the justly celebrated "Le jour se lève" has a poetic quality overall, and a memorably ironic final shot of the kind we don't seem to see quite often enough anymore.