Poetic realism was a film movement in France of the 1930s. More a tendency than a movement, poetic realism is not strongly unified like Soviet montage or French Impressionism but were individuals who created this lyrical style. Its leading filmmakers were Pierre Chenal, Jean Vigo, Julien Duvivier, Marcel Carné, and, perhaps the movement's most significant director, Jean Renoir. Renoir made a wide variety of films some influenced by the leftist Popular Front group and even a lyrical short feature film. Frequent stars of these films were Jean Gabin, Michel Simon, Simone Signoret, and Michèle Morgan.
Michèle Morgan was a French film actress, who was a leading lady for three decades in both French cinema and Hollywood features. She is considered to have been one of the great French actresses of the 20th century. Morgan was the inaugural winner of the Best Actress Award at the Cannes Film Festival. In 1992, she was given an honorary César Award for her contributions to French cinema.
Julien Duvivier was a French film director and screenwriter. He was prominent in French cinema in the years 1930–1960. Amongst his most original films, chiefly notable are La Bandera, Pépé le Moko, Little World of Don Camillo, Panic (Panique), Voici le temps des assassins and Marianne de ma jeunesse.
Port of Shadows is a 1938 French film directed by Marcel Carné. An example of poetic realism, it stars Jean Gabin, Michel Simon and Michèle Morgan. The screenplay was written by Jacques Prévert based on a novel by Pierre Mac Orlan. The music score was by Maurice Jaubert. The film was the 1939 winner of France's top cinematic prize, the Prix Louis-Delluc.
Alexis Roland-Manuel was a French composer and critic, remembered mainly for his criticism.
Le jour se lève is a 1939 French film directed by Marcel Carné and written by Jacques Prévert, based on a story by Jacques Viot. It is considered one of the principal examples of the French film movement known as poetic realism.
Michèle Mercier is a French actress. In the course of her career she has worked with leading directors like François Truffaut, Jean-Pierre Melville, Jacques Deray, Dino Risi, Mario Monicelli, Mario Bava, Peter Collinson and Ken Annakin. Her leading men have included Marcello Mastroianni, Vittorio Gassman, Jean-Paul Belmondo, Jean Gabin, Charles Aznavour, Robert Hossein, Charles Bronson, Tony Curtis and Charlton Heston. She has appeared in over fifty films, and is best known for her starring role in Angelique, Marquise des Anges.
Lucie Madeleine Renaud was a French actress best remembered for her work in the theatre. She did though appear in several films directed by Jean Grémillon including Remorques and Lumière d'été.
Jean Grémillon was a French film director.
René Xavier Marie Alain Cuny was a French actor of stage and screen. He was closely linked with the works of Paul Claudel and Antonin Artaud, and for his performances for the Théâtre national populaire and Odéon-Théâtre de France.
Charles-Marie Vanel was a French actor and director. During his 76-year film career, which began in 1912, he appeared in more than 200 films and worked with many prominent directors, including Alfred Hitchcock, Luis Buñuel, Jacques Feyder, and Henri-Georges Clouzot. He is perhaps best remembered for his role as a desperate truck driver in Clouzot's The Wages of Fear for which he received a Special Mention at the Cannes Film Festival in 1953.
Lady Killer is a 1937 French drama film directed by Jean Grémillon and starring Jean Gabin, Mireille Balin and Marguerite Deval. It has been classified as both a film noir and an entry into the poetic realist group of films of the late 1930s. It was produced by the German company UFA in conjunction with its own French subsidiary ACE. Like Port of Shadows it drew on the tradition of German expressionism in its lighting and set design, although the Nazi authorities were opposed to the expressionist style.
La Minute de vérité is a 1952 French language motion picture drama directed by Jean Delannoy who co-wrote the screenplay with Henri Jeanson, Roland Laudenbach and Robert Thoeren. The film stars Michèle Morgan and Jean Gabin.
Charles Spaak was a Belgian screenwriter who was noted particularly for his work in the French cinema during the 1930s. He was the son of the dramatist and poet Paul Spaak, the brother of the politician Paul-Henri Spaak, and the father of the actresses Catherine Spaak and Agnès Spaak.
Roger Vercel was a French writer.
The Tunnel is a 1933 French-German science fiction film directed by Curtis Bernhardt and starring Jean Gabin, Madeleine Renaud and Robert Le Vigan. It was the French language version of the German film The Tunnel, with a different cast and some changes to the plot. Both were followed in 1935 by an English version. Such Multiple-language versions were common in the years immediately following the introduction of sound, before the practice of dubbing had come to dominate international releases. Germany and France made a significant number of films together at this time.
The Beautiful Sailor is a 1932 French drama film directed by Harry Lachman and starring Pierre Blanchar, Madeleine Renaud and Jean Gabin. It was made by the French subsidiary of Paramount Pictures at the company's Joinville Studios.
Summer Light is a 1943 French drama film directed by Jean Grémillon and starring Madeleine Renaud, Pierre Brasseur and Madeleine Robinson.
The Case of Doctor Laurent is a 1957 French drama film directed by Jean-Paul Le Chanois and starring Jean Gabin, Nicole Courcel and Silvia Monfort.
