À nous la liberté (1931)

User Rating:

7.8/10   

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:

Worker | Factory | Friend | Jail | Escape

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
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Albert Broquin	...	Le marchand de primeurs (uncredited)
Robert Charlet	...	(uncredited)
Léon Courtois	...	(uncredited)
Alexander D'Arcy	...	Le gigolo (uncredited)
Marguerite de Morlaye	...	Une invitée au diner (uncredited)
Ritou Lancyle	...	(uncredited)
Maximilienne	...	Une invitée au diner (uncredited)
Eugène Stuber	...	Un gangster (uncredited)

Directed by
René Clair

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
René Clair		story and screenplay

Produced by
Frank Clifford	....	producer
Alexandre Kamenka	....	producer (uncredited)
Roger Le Bon	....	producer (uncredited)

Original Music by
Georges Auric

Cinematography by
Georges Périnal		(as Georges Perinal)

Film Editing by
René Le Hénaff
René Clair		(uncredited)

Art Direction by
Lazare Meerson

Costume Design by
René Hubert

Production Management
Georges Lampin	....	production manager

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Ary Sadoul	....	second assistant director
Albert Valentin	....	assistant director

Sound Department
Hermann Storr	....	sound engineer

Camera and Electrical Department
Georges Raulet	....	camera operator

Music Department
Armand Bernard	....	musical director

Other crew
Lenny Borger	....	subtitler: TVS - Titra Film for Janus Films print

Production Companies

• Films Sonores Tobis

Distributors

• Films Sonores Tobis (1931) (France) (theatrical)
• Universal Pictures (1932) (UK) (theatrical)
• Harold Auten (1932) (USA) (theatrical) (subtitled)
• Filmsonor (1952) (France) (theatrical) (re-release)
• Joseph Burstyn (1954) (USA) (theatrical) (re-release)
• Criterion Collection, The (2004) (USA) (DVD)
• Grapevine Video (video)
• Janus Films (????) (USA) (all media)
• Reel Media International (2004) (USA) (all media)
• Reel Media International (2007) (USA) (all media)

Other Companies

• TVS-Titra Film  subtitling: English for Janus Films print

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)

Charming early French comedy, with a fine score

Rene Clair's first film was the bizarre surrealist short ENTR'ACTE, which had music (and a cameo) by composer Erik Satie. Also showing up briefly in that film were two of Satie's young protégés, Darius Milhaud and George Auric.

When Clair made the talkie A NOUS LA LIBERTE, he hired Auric to do a completely original score, which was not common at the time, and a lot of the scenes were shot to recordings of the Auric music. This was only Auric's 2nd film (after Cocteau's BLOOD OF A POET) but he already shows the mastery that would lead to well over a hundred further scores.

Clair and his Oscar-nominated designer fill the screen with wonderful art deco visuals, and there's a sympathetic cast cemented by the two central characters, Louis and Emile. There are some wonderful physical comedy bits in the film (mostly in the factory), as well as the social satire which I didn't find particularly heavy-handed (although that adjective has been used by others). The fine balance of music, visuals, and comedy makes this a winner.