The Crime of Monsieur Lange
Encyclopedia
The Crime of Monsieur Lange (original French
title: Le Crime de Monsieur Lange) is a 1936 film directed by Jean Renoir
about a publishing cooperative. An idyllic picture of a socialist France, the film is part social commentary and part romance.
, which would have a major political victory that year, the film chronicles the story of M. Lange (René Lefèvre
), a mild-mannered clerk at a publishing company who dreams of writing Western stories. He gets his chance when Batala (Jules Berry), the salacious head of the company, fakes his own death and the abandoned workers decide to form a cooperative. They have great success with Lange's stories about the cowboy, Arizona Jim — whose stories parallel the real-life experiences of the cooperative. At the same time, Lange and his neighbor, Valentine (Florelle
), fall in love.
When Batala returns from the "dead", intending to reclaim the publishing company, Lange shoots and kills him (the "crime" of the title). Lange and Valentine flee to escape the country, stopping at an inn near the Belgian border. Here, Valentine tells Lange's story to a group of the inn's patrons, who had recognized Lange as the "murderer on the run" and threatened to turn him in to the police. After the story is through, the men sympathize with Lange and decide to allow him to escape across the border to freedom.
French language
French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...
title: Le Crime de Monsieur Lange) is a 1936 film directed by Jean Renoir
Jean Renoir
Jean Renoir was a French film director, screenwriter, actor, producer and author. As a film director and actor, he made more than forty films from the silent era to the end of the 1960s...
about a publishing cooperative. An idyllic picture of a socialist France, the film is part social commentary and part romance.
Plot
Imbued with the spirit of the left-wing political movement, Popular FrontPopular Front (France)
The Popular Front was an alliance of left-wing movements, including the French Communist Party , the French Section of the Workers' International and the Radical and Socialist Party, during the interwar period...
, which would have a major political victory that year, the film chronicles the story of M. Lange (René Lefèvre
René Lefèvre
René Lefèvre may refer to:*René Lefèvre , French journalist*René Lefèvre , French actor...
), a mild-mannered clerk at a publishing company who dreams of writing Western stories. He gets his chance when Batala (Jules Berry), the salacious head of the company, fakes his own death and the abandoned workers decide to form a cooperative. They have great success with Lange's stories about the cowboy, Arizona Jim — whose stories parallel the real-life experiences of the cooperative. At the same time, Lange and his neighbor, Valentine (Florelle
Florelle
Florelle , was a French actress. She appeared in 54 films between 1912 and 1956.She was born in Les Sables-d'Olonne, Vendée and died in La Roche-sur-Yon, Vendée.-Selected filmography:...
), fall in love.
When Batala returns from the "dead", intending to reclaim the publishing company, Lange shoots and kills him (the "crime" of the title). Lange and Valentine flee to escape the country, stopping at an inn near the Belgian border. Here, Valentine tells Lange's story to a group of the inn's patrons, who had recognized Lange as the "murderer on the run" and threatened to turn him in to the police. After the story is through, the men sympathize with Lange and decide to allow him to escape across the border to freedom.
Cast
- René LefèvreRené LefèvreRené Lefèvre may refer to:*René Lefèvre , French journalist*René Lefèvre , French actor...
— Amédée Lange - FlorelleFlorelleFlorelle , was a French actress. She appeared in 54 films between 1912 and 1956.She was born in Les Sables-d'Olonne, Vendée and died in La Roche-sur-Yon, Vendée.-Selected filmography:...
— Valentine Cardès - Jules Berry — Paul Batala
- Marcel Lévesque — The concierge
- Odette Talazac — The concierge's wife
- Sylvia BatailleSylvia BatailleSylvia Bataille was a French actress, born Sylvia Maklès in Paris , of Romanian-Jewish descent. When she was twenty, she married the writer Georges Bataille with whom she had a daughter, the psychoanalyst Laurence Bataille . Georges Bataille and Sylvia separated in 1934 but did not divorce until...
— Edith - Nadia Sibirskaïa — Estelle
- Henri Guisol — The son Meunier
- Maurice Baquet — Charles, the concierges' son
- Jacques B. BruniusJacques B. BruniusJacques B. Brunius, French actor, director and writer, was born Jacques Henri Cottance in Paris on September 16, 1906, died Exeter, Devon , on April 24, 1967. He was cremated in Sidmouth, with a tribute by Mesens....
(as J.B. Brunius) — Mr. Baigneur - Sylvain Itkine — Inspector Juliani, Batala's cousin
- Marcel DuhamelMarcel DuhamelMarcel Duhamel was a French actor and screenwriter, founder of the Série noire publishing imprint.He played The Foreman in Jean Renoir's 1936 The Crime of Monsieur Lange....
— Louis, the foreman - René GéninRené GéninRené Génin was a French film actor. He appeared in 134 films between 1931 and 1965.-Selected filmography:* Nuits de feu * Port of Shadows * Girls in Distress...
(as Génin) - A client at the Auberge Inn - Max MoriseMax MoriseMax Morise was a French artist, writer & actor, associated with the Surrealist movement in Paris from 1924 to 1929. He was friends with Robert Desnos and Roger Vitrac before they joined the Surrealist movement. He contributed articles to La Revolution Surrealiste and took part in a series of...
- Man with the pipe - Jean DastéJean DastéJean Dasté, born Jean Georges Gustave Dasté, was an actor and theatre director....
— The model maker