Sat 24 Sep 2011
Movie Review: LA BANDERA (1935/1939).
Posted by Steve under Action Adventure movies , Reviews[9] Comments
LA BANDERA. Société Nouvelle de Cinématographie (SNC), France, 1935. Released in the US (1939) as Escape from Yesterday. Annabella, Jean Gabin, Robert Le Vigan, Raymond Aimos, Pierre Renoir, Gaston Modot, Margo Lion. Based on a novel by Pierre Dumarchais under the name of Pierre MacOrlan. Director: Julien Duvivier.
There was a day last month that TCM showed Jean Gabin movies for 24 hours straight, and I taped about 16 hours’ worth. As I make my way through watching them, my comments will show up here. This is the first.
I’ve not seen enough French films of this era for me to say anything clever or even intelligent about them in that regard. I’ll have to also refrain from saying anything about other films that Jean Gabin made, unfortunately, except to say that this one was early in his career, with both La grande illusion and Pépé le Moko not coming along until 1937, the two films that really cranked his career into high gear.
He’s a man on the run in this one, having killed a man in France and finding himself broke in Spain in the very next scene. The Spanish Foreign Legion is his only option. He signs up, trying (as many men did) to forget his past and not to think (too much) about his future.
He makes some friends, a couple of enemies, including one (he believes) is on his trail for the murder he committed. He also meets a Moroccan girl (Annabella), a dancer in what can only be called a dive, for where else is there for a legionnaire to go, away from the barracks and the day to day drudgery of a soldier’s life?
The first half is slow going, with the quick transitions between scenes making it a bit of a challenge to follow the story, but once Gabin finds himself in one spot, somewhere in the African desert with all-but-invisible Arab enemies, the story settles down as well. To a tale of honor, of course, and manhood, and life in general as well as in particular.
I will not tell you if the movie ends tragically or not, but either way, it is one of those films that could easily do so. But there are other reasons to watch this movie, other than the story. The film-making techniques, and what the director added to this film visually, for example, catch the eye and intrigue the mind more often as not, making this movie one I will probably watch again, perhaps even soon, for that very reason.
YouTube clips:
(1) A man is killed.
(2) Gabin and Annabella meet for the first time.
(3) The finale.
September 24th, 2011 at 10:33 pm
If you like the films of Jean Gabin I recommend the two volume chronological study by Charles Zigman titled, WORLD’S COOLEST MOVIE STAR. Despite the dumb title, he covers the 95 movies in great detail.
September 24th, 2011 at 10:50 pm
IMDB says there are 98, for what that’s worth. I went there to see I’d recognize any of the other movies he was in, but (E) none of the above. You’d have thought I had, maybe, and so would I, especially since he played Inspector Maigret a few time, but no I haven’t. Odds are that I will, and sooner rather than later.
Based on this movie, a sample of size one, though, he has the screen presence of a star, an essence that I’m unable to define in words any more than that.
September 25th, 2011 at 8:47 am
Back during my film studies days, I saw Renoir’s GRAND ILLUSION with Gabin as a POW. It is considered must viewing for anyone interested in film.
You might want to visit:
http://www.jeangabinbook.com
It is a website for the book Walker mentioned but also has a video store that links to Gabin’s films available at Amazon.
September 25th, 2011 at 9:17 am
Jean Gabin was considered the archetypal working man / working class hero, to a whole generation of French audiences. He was a giant star.
People in the 1930’s did think of themselves as “working class”. It is not like the contemporary US, when everyone is encouraged to regard themselves as “middle class”, regardless of how poorly paid they are for their work – when they can get it at all.
September 25th, 2011 at 10:22 am
I like the later Jean Gabin films which show him as sort of an aging world weary criminal and stress the film noir aspects.
In the late 1950’s there was a movie theater on the outskirts of Trenton, NJ which played only foreign films. The Hamilton Theater was within walking distance of my house and as a teenager I saw many French movies including Bridget Bardot and Jean Gabin films.
Needless to say I loved the sexy element which American movies could not show due to censorship. Ingmar Bergman was a revelation to me and led to my present interest in foreign films. I just about have all his movies on dvd and have seen several many times.
September 25th, 2011 at 11:13 am
Walker
One of the joys of foreign films (and books) is discovering the differences in cultures.
My favorite French film is “La Letrice” (1988). It tells the story of a woman reading to her lover in bed. The book she is reading is about a professional reader, a beautiful young woman paid to read to people. One of her clients was a young man whose wife had died a few months ago. The young man who had not had sex with a woman since then and pleaded with the woman to save him from his suffering. As a “French Woman” she felt it was her duty to help him, but she felt it was unprofessional since he paid her to read. She solved her problem by having sex with him while reading. He was not totally pleased (it distracted him). And as an American single male dealing with single American females, I seriously considered moving to France.
September 25th, 2011 at 11:22 am
You were lucky to grow up in a big city, Walker, at least compared to the town of about 10,000 where I was born. It wasn’t until I started grad school in Ann Arbor that I was able to see foreign films on a regular basis.
That was 1963, and the “art” theater was in the same block as the building where my apartment was, out the back door and through an alley and there I was.
I don’t remember many French films, mostly Italian and Swedish. I did manage to see one Bardot film in 1959 or ’60, but it was hacked to pieces by the time the theater I saw it was able to show it, but in its way it was also a revelation to me.
Getting back to LA BANDERA, if there such a category as “pre-noir,” I think it would be a perfect fit.
Mike, you describe Gabin as a working class hero to French audiences. I can see that, very well.
Michael, I believe that GRAND ILLUSION was one of the films I taped from TCM, and if so, I’ll make a point of watching it soon. I wasn’t able to tape everything that day, so if I missed it, I’ll have to check out its availability on DVD.
September 25th, 2011 at 11:26 am
Michael
Your synopsis of the movie “La Letrice” arrived while I was still typing my previous comment. Although I have not seen it (nor even heard of it until now) I would agree that it is a film unlikely to have been made in the US.
I will investigate further.
September 25th, 2011 at 11:32 am
Steve: “Getting back to LA BANDERA, if there such a category as “pre-noir,” I think it would be a perfect fit.”
It’s a cliche of criticism: the three biggest influences on film noir of the 40’s and 50’s are:
1) German films of the 1920’s, such as Fritz Lang,
2) French films of the 1930’s,
3) Hard-boiled writers from Black Mask and other pulps, such as Hammett, Chandler and Cornell Woolrich.
I’ve never seen LA BANDERA. Really enjoyed your review!