Le quai des brumes (1938)

User Rating:

7.7/10   

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 | Ship | French Soldier | Photographer

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
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Léo Malet	...	Soldier (uncredited)
Marcel Melrac	...	(uncredited)
Raymond Pélissier	...	(uncredited)
Raphaël	...	Un complice (uncredited)
Claude Walter	...	L'orphelin (uncredited)

Directed by
Marcel Carné

Writing credits
Pierre Dumarchais		(novel) (as Pierre Mac Orlan)
Jacques Prévert		(scenario and dialogue)

Produced by
Gregor Rabinovitch	....	producer (uncredited)

Original Music by
Maurice Jaubert

Cinematography by
Eugen Schüfftan		(as E. Schufftan)

Film Editing by
René Le Hénaff		(as R. Le Hénaff)

Production Design by
Alexandre Trauner		(as Trauner)

Costume Design by
Coco Chanel		(uncredited)

Production Management
Ludmilla Goulian	....	unit manager (as Mme Goulian)
Simon Schiffrin	....	production manager

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Claude Walter	....	assistant director (as Walter)

Art Department
Clément Hurel	....	poster artist

Sound Department
Antoine Archimbaud	....	sound engineer (as Archimbaud)

Camera and Electrical Department
Henri Alekan	....	camera operator (as Alekan)
Marc Fossard	....	camera operator (as Fossard)
Roger Kahan	....	still photographer (as R. Kahan)
Louis Page	....	camera operator (as Page)

Editorial Department
A. Chourat	....	assistant editor

Other crew
Marcel Carné	....	decoupage technique
Marcel Carné	....	story editor

Production Companies

• Ciné-Alliance

Distributors

• Les Films Osso (1938) (France) (theatrical)
• Film Alliance of the United States Inc. (1939) (USA) (theatrical) (subtitled)
• Janus Films (1995) (worldwide) (video) (????)
• Studio Canal (2001) (France) (theatrical) (special edition)
• Connoisseur Video (1993) (UK) (VHS)
• Criterion Collection, The (2004) (USA) (DVD)
• Reelclassicdvd.com (2004) (USA) (DVD)
• Neue Filmkunst Walter Kirchner (????) (West Germany) (theatrical)
• Pallas (1955) (West Germany) (theatrical)

Other Companies

• Pathé  sound laboratory
• Traonouez (Paris)  costumes (uncredited)

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:

Quart Vittel: What could be simpler than a tree?
Le peintre: A tree. But when I paint one, it sets everyone on edge. It's because there's someone or something hidden behind that tree. I can't help painting what's hidden behind things. To me a swimmer is already a drowned man.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Le sucre (1978)

Entertaining but overrated noir predecessor

I know, I know, this isn't film noir, it's 'poetic realism.' Fine with me, but it's still an early example of noir to me. And while this film has many strong points, it's very easy to overrate it. For one thing, it's totally predictable. If you haven't figured out by the halfway point what's going to happen to the Gabin character, you just haven't been to very many movies. For another, the first half of the film is disjointed and just plain dull. However, after the halfway point it begins to pull itself together and ends up working rather well.

On to the strong points. Gabin is, well, Gabin. He is one of those rare screen presences who is watchable and enjoyable in anything. And Michele Morgan, who I don't recall seeing before, is beautiful, magnetic, and riveting. It's hard to believe that she was only 18 when she played in this film. And the tone of the film--downbeat, mildly depressing--is a healthy antidote to the relentlessly upbeat Hollywood productions of the time. And the downbeat tone is probably much more appropriate to 1938 as well.

Some reviewers have criticized the sets. Personally, I think they worked. This film worked very hard to create an atmosphere, and for this the sets were perfect.

The film was also daring for its time, although perhaps not for the French. The Morgan character is strongly hinted to be a woman of easy virtue and, at a time when Hollywood was plagued by the Hayes code that prohibited even a hint of sexuality, there is a very obvious 'morning after' scene in which it is obvious that the Gabin and Morgan characters checked into a hotel room and spent the night together. There is even a scene after the morning after scene in which it is obvious that they are about to go at it again; Gabin grabs Morgan, they embrace and start to fall on the bed, and the scene fades out. Moreover, in an era when such things weren't even hinted at, there is a subtle suggestion that Morgan's godfather/caretaker may have molested her, and there is a less than subtle suggestion that he lusts for her. In these senses the film was way ahead of its time.

Definitely worth seeing. 8/10