Mauvaise Graine
Encyclopedia
Mauvaise Graine is a 1934
French
drama film
directed by Billy Wilder
(credited as Billie Wilder) and Alexander Esway. The screenplay by Wilder, H.G. Lustig, Max Kolpé, and Claude-André Puget focuses on a wealthy young playboy who becomes involved with a gang of car thieves.
Although Wilder and Esway shared the directing credit, in later years leading lady Danielle Darrieux
recalled Esway was involved with the project in some capacity but clearly remembered she never saw him on the set. In her opinion the film, which marked Wilder's directorial debut, was his alone.
, the story centers on Henri Pasquier, whose wealthy father announces he no longer will support his playboy lifestyle. Dr. Pasquier sells his son's beloved Buick roadster, which Henri later sees parked on a street with the keys left in the ignition by the new owner. Unable to resist temptation, he takes the car to keep a date with a young lady he recently has met.
Henri is followed by three men who overtake him and bring him to the service station that serves as the front for a gang of car thieves. Believing he is one of them, they warn him not to compete with their operation. At the garage, Henri is introduced to the childlike Jean-la-Cravate, who invites him to stay at his flat with him and his sister Jeannette, who lures men away from their expensive cars so her brother's fellow henchmen can steal them. Jean convinces Henri to join his gang, and he and Jeannette soon are engaging in a series of daring thefts. When they manage to steal three luxury Hispano-Suiza
s, Henri insists everyone is entitled to better compensation, and the gang leader grudgingly agrees.
Perceiving Henri and Jeannette to be troublemakers, the leader sends them to Marseilles in a car with a damaged front axle, hoping it will crack and crash, killing the two. It does crash, but the couple escape without injury. They decide to sail to Casablanca
and begin a new life, but Jeannette refuses to leave without her brother. Henri returns to Paris to retrieve him, only to arrive at the garage in the middle of a raid. Jean is shot and seriously injured, and Henri brings him to his father for medical treatment, but he dies. Dr. Pasquier, anxious to help his son escape a life of crime, gives him money so Henri and Jeannette can sail off and start anew.
on March 1, 1933, he settled in the Hotel Ansonia, a haven for members of the German film industry who had fled from their homeland to escape the encroaching threat of Adolf Hitler
and the Nazi Party. Among those living there were actor Peter Lorre
, composers Franz Waxman
and Friedrich Hollaender
, and screenwriters H.G. Lustig and Max Kolpé, who agreed to help Wilder develop a plot he had conceived in Berlin. In order to secure financing from a producer, they needed someone with directing credits to join their project, and Alexander Esway accepted their invitation.
Without making specific reference to the extent of Esway's participation in the film, Wilder later recalled, "I directed out of pure necessity and without any experience. I cannot say that I had any fun making Mauvaise Graine . . . There was pressure. People depend on you, and you aren't really in control, but you can't show that, or everyone gets nervous . . . I, alone, was responsible for everything - everything! I had to be everybody from the producer to script girl. I was an extra
, not because I was trying to pull a Hitchcock
, but because we couldn't afford another body." Budget constraints required the director to make use of whatever locations were available to him. "We didn't use a soundstage. Most of the interiors were shot in a converted auto shop, even the living room set, and we did the automobile chases without transparencies, live, on the streets. It was exhausting. The camera was mounted on the back of a truck or in a car. We were constantly improvising . . . We were doing nouvelle vague
a quarter of a century before they invented a fancy name for it."
Much of the film is silent, with long sequences punctuated by a jazz
-infused score by Franz Waxman
and Allan Gray
.
Mauvaise Graine proved to be Wilder's last European film. By the time it premiered in the summer of 1934, he had relocated to Hollywood, although he recalled, "I still didn't think of myself as a director, not exactly. I wasn't certain I liked being a director, but I did know I could do it. That was satisfying." It would be eight years before he would direct again, making the 1942 comedy The Major and the Minor
after establishing himself as a successful screenwriter.
released the film on Region 1 DVD on November 26, 2002. It is in fullscreen
format, with an audio track in French and subtitles in English. The sole bonus feature is Joie de Vivre, an animated short subject released the same year as Mauvaise Graine.
1934 in film
-Events:*January 26 - Samuel Goldwyn purchases the film rights to The Wonderful Wizard of Oz from the L. Frank Baum estate for $40,000.*February 19 - Bob Hope marries Dolores Reade...
French
Cinema of France
The Cinema of France comprises the art of film and creative movies made within the nation of France or by French filmmakers abroad.France is the birthplace of cinema and was responsible for many of its early significant contributions. Several important cinematic movements, including the Nouvelle...
drama film
Drama film
A drama film is a film genre that depends mostly on in-depth development of realistic characters dealing with emotional themes. Dramatic themes such as alcoholism, drug addiction, infidelity, moral dilemmas, racial prejudice, religious intolerance, poverty, class divisions, violence against women...
directed by Billy Wilder
Billy Wilder
Billy Wilder was an Austro-Hungarian born American filmmaker, screenwriter, producer, artist, and journalist, whose career spanned more than 50 years and 60 films. He is regarded as one of the most brilliant and versatile filmmakers of Hollywood's golden age...
(credited as Billie Wilder) and Alexander Esway. The screenplay by Wilder, H.G. Lustig, Max Kolpé, and Claude-André Puget focuses on a wealthy young playboy who becomes involved with a gang of car thieves.
Although Wilder and Esway shared the directing credit, in later years leading lady Danielle Darrieux
Danielle Darrieux
Danielle Yvonne Marie Antoinette Darrieux is a French actress and singer, who has appeared in more than 110 films since 1931. She is one of France's great movie stars and her eight-decade career is among the longest in film history....
recalled Esway was involved with the project in some capacity but clearly remembered she never saw him on the set. In her opinion the film, which marked Wilder's directorial debut, was his alone.
Plot
Set in 1930s ParisParis
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
, the story centers on Henri Pasquier, whose wealthy father announces he no longer will support his playboy lifestyle. Dr. Pasquier sells his son's beloved Buick roadster, which Henri later sees parked on a street with the keys left in the ignition by the new owner. Unable to resist temptation, he takes the car to keep a date with a young lady he recently has met.
Henri is followed by three men who overtake him and bring him to the service station that serves as the front for a gang of car thieves. Believing he is one of them, they warn him not to compete with their operation. At the garage, Henri is introduced to the childlike Jean-la-Cravate, who invites him to stay at his flat with him and his sister Jeannette, who lures men away from their expensive cars so her brother's fellow henchmen can steal them. Jean convinces Henri to join his gang, and he and Jeannette soon are engaging in a series of daring thefts. When they manage to steal three luxury Hispano-Suiza
Hispano-Suiza
Hispano-Suiza was a Spanish automotive and engineering firm, best known for its luxury cars and aviation engines in the pre-World War II period of the twentieth century. In 1923, its French subsidiary became a semi-autonomous partnership with the parent company and is now part of the French SAFRAN...
s, Henri insists everyone is entitled to better compensation, and the gang leader grudgingly agrees.
Perceiving Henri and Jeannette to be troublemakers, the leader sends them to Marseilles in a car with a damaged front axle, hoping it will crack and crash, killing the two. It does crash, but the couple escape without injury. They decide to sail to Casablanca
Casablanca
Casablanca is a city in western Morocco, located on the Atlantic Ocean. It is the capital of the Grand Casablanca region.Casablanca is Morocco's largest city as well as its chief port. It is also the biggest city in the Maghreb. The 2004 census recorded a population of 2,949,805 in the prefecture...
and begin a new life, but Jeannette refuses to leave without her brother. Henri returns to Paris to retrieve him, only to arrive at the garage in the middle of a raid. Jean is shot and seriously injured, and Henri brings him to his father for medical treatment, but he dies. Dr. Pasquier, anxious to help his son escape a life of crime, gives him money so Henri and Jeannette can sail off and start anew.
Production
When Billy Wilder arrived in Paris from BerlinBerlin
Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...
on March 1, 1933, he settled in the Hotel Ansonia, a haven for members of the German film industry who had fled from their homeland to escape the encroaching threat of Adolf Hitler
Adolf Hitler
Adolf Hitler was an Austrian-born German politician and the leader of the National Socialist German Workers Party , commonly referred to as the Nazi Party). He was Chancellor of Germany from 1933 to 1945, and head of state from 1934 to 1945...
and the Nazi Party. Among those living there were actor Peter Lorre
Peter Lorre
Peter Lorre was an Austrian-American actor frequently typecast as a sinister foreigner.He caused an international sensation in 1931 with his portrayal of a serial killer who preys on little girls in the German film M...
, composers Franz Waxman
Franz Waxman
Franz Waxman was a German-American composer, known for his bravura Carmen Fantasie for violin and orchestra, based on musical themes from the Bizet opera Carmen, and for his musical scores for films....
and Friedrich Hollaender
Friedrich Hollaender
Friedrich Hollaender was a German film composer.He was born in London, where his father, operetta composer Victor Hollaender, worked at the Barnum & Bailey Circus...
, and screenwriters H.G. Lustig and Max Kolpé, who agreed to help Wilder develop a plot he had conceived in Berlin. In order to secure financing from a producer, they needed someone with directing credits to join their project, and Alexander Esway accepted their invitation.
Without making specific reference to the extent of Esway's participation in the film, Wilder later recalled, "I directed out of pure necessity and without any experience. I cannot say that I had any fun making Mauvaise Graine . . . There was pressure. People depend on you, and you aren't really in control, but you can't show that, or everyone gets nervous . . . I, alone, was responsible for everything - everything! I had to be everybody from the producer to script girl. I was an extra
Extra (actor)
A background actor or extra is a performer in a film, television show, stage, musical, opera or ballet production, who appears in a nonspeaking, nonsinging or nondancing capacity, usually in the background...
, not because I was trying to pull a Hitchcock
Alfred Hitchcock
Sir Alfred Joseph Hitchcock, KBE was a British film director and producer. He pioneered many techniques in the suspense and psychological thriller genres. After a successful career in British cinema in both silent films and early talkies, Hitchcock moved to Hollywood...
, but because we couldn't afford another body." Budget constraints required the director to make use of whatever locations were available to him. "We didn't use a soundstage. Most of the interiors were shot in a converted auto shop, even the living room set, and we did the automobile chases without transparencies, live, on the streets. It was exhausting. The camera was mounted on the back of a truck or in a car. We were constantly improvising . . . We were doing nouvelle vague
French New Wave
The New Wave was a blanket term coined by critics for a group of French filmmakers of the late 1950s and 1960s, influenced by Italian Neorealism and classical Hollywood cinema. Although never a formally organized movement, the New Wave filmmakers were linked by their self-conscious rejection of...
a quarter of a century before they invented a fancy name for it."
Much of the film is silent, with long sequences punctuated by a jazz
Jazz
Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
-infused score by Franz Waxman
Franz Waxman
Franz Waxman was a German-American composer, known for his bravura Carmen Fantasie for violin and orchestra, based on musical themes from the Bizet opera Carmen, and for his musical scores for films....
and Allan Gray
Allan Gray (composer)
Allan Gray was a composer, noted for his film scores.He was born Józef Żmigrod in Tarnów, which was then in Austria-Hungary, but is now part of Poland. He studied under the renowned Austrian composer Arnold Schönberg during the 1920s, and later wrote music for Max Reinhardt's theatre productions...
.
Mauvaise Graine proved to be Wilder's last European film. By the time it premiered in the summer of 1934, he had relocated to Hollywood, although he recalled, "I still didn't think of myself as a director, not exactly. I wasn't certain I liked being a director, but I did know I could do it. That was satisfying." It would be eight years before he would direct again, making the 1942 comedy The Major and the Minor
The Major and the Minor
The Major and the Minor is a 1942 American comedy film starring Ginger Rogers and Ray Milland. It was the first American film directed by Billy Wilder, and launched his "incomparable" directing career...
after establishing himself as a successful screenwriter.
Cast
- Danielle DarrieuxDanielle DarrieuxDanielle Yvonne Marie Antoinette Darrieux is a French actress and singer, who has appeared in more than 110 films since 1931. She is one of France's great movie stars and her eight-decade career is among the longest in film history....
as Jeannette - Pierre Mingand as Henri Pasquier
- Raymond Galle as Jean-la-Cravate
- Paul Escoffier as Dr. Pasquier
- Michel Duran as Gang Chief
DVD release
Image EntertainmentImage Entertainment
Image Entertainment, Inc. is an independent licensee, producer and distributor of home entertainment programming and film & television productions in North America, with approximately 3,000 exclusive DVD titles and approximately 250 exclusive CD titles in domestic release, and approximately 450...
released the film on Region 1 DVD on November 26, 2002. It is in fullscreen
Pan and scan
Pan and scan is a method of adjusting widescreen film images so that they can be shown within the proportions of a standard definition 4:3 aspect ratio television screen, often cropping off the sides of the original widescreen image to focus on the composition's most important aspects...
format, with an audio track in French and subtitles in English. The sole bonus feature is Joie de Vivre, an animated short subject released the same year as Mauvaise Graine.