À nous la liberté (1931)

Director:

René Clair

Writer:

René Clair (story)

Release Date:

31 December 1931 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Musical

Tagline:

Le chef-d'oeuvre de René Clair

Plot:

A famous left-wing satirical comedy about two ex-convicts, one of whom escaped jail and then worked his way up from salesman to factory owner...

Plot Keywords:

Kicked In Butt | Bicycle Race | Bumping Heads | Eating | Bowler Hat

Awards:

Nominated for Oscar. Another 2 wins

Cast

Henri Marchand	...	Émile
Raymond Cordy	...	Louis
Rolla France	...	Jeanne
Paul Ollivier	...	L'oncle (as Paul Olivier)
Jacques Shelly	...	Paul
André Michaud	...	Le contremaitre
Germaine Aussey	...	Maud - la femme de Louis
Léon Lorin	...	Le vieux monsieur sourd
William Burke	...	L'ancien détenu
Vincent Hyspa	...	Le vieil orateur

Also Known As:

À nous la liberté! (France) (alternative spelling)
Freedom for Us (International: English title)
Liberty for Us (USA)

Runtime:

104 min | USA:83 min (re-release) | USA:97 min

Country:

France

Language:

French

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.20 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

USA:TV-G (TV rating) | Finland:(Banned) (1950) | UK:U | USA:Approved

Company:

Films Sonores Tobis

Trivia:

First film not in English to receive an Oscar nomination

Quotes:

[first lines]
[Voice over Singer]: Liberty is the happy man's due / He enjoys love and skies of blue / But then there are some / Who no worse crimes have done / It's the sad story we tell / From a prison cell

Movie Connections:

Featured in "Fejezetek a film történetéböl: A francia lírai realizmus (#1.6)" (1989)

One of the great masterpieces of the early French Sound Cinema.

I was lucky enough to see "A Nous La Liberte" along with it's sister film (in my mind, anyway) "Le Million" at an early age at the Museum of Modern Art. I have never gotten over them. They are both miracles of studio production with even many of the exteriors built in studio. Both films were designed by the great Lazare Meerson and evoke the magical Paris of the 20's. Both films make wonderful, inventive use of music and song, though neither one is exactly a Musical in the modern sense. "A Nous La Liberte" is also interesting for having been Chaplin's inspiration for much of "Modern Times."