Aug 24th
La Bete Humaine***
(The Human Beast)

Fra 1938. Paris Films. 99m. bw

A train driver witnesses a stationmaster and his wife who have murdered her elderly lover. She persuades him into keeping his silence but is later compelled into committing murder himself.

Highly evocative French railway melodrama with only occasional moments of falseness (mainly in the plot), with Renoir concentrating on a beautifully down-to-earth and authentic railway setting, with some classic individual cinematic moments too. The early precursor of American film noir.

Written by: Jean Renoir, Denise Leblond, from the novel by Emile Zola.

Producers: Raymond Hakim, Robert Hakim.

Director: Jean Renoir.

Starring: Jean Gabin, Simone Simon, Fernand Ledoux, Julien Carette, Blanchette Brunoy, Jacques Berlioz, Jean Renoir.

Photography: Curt Courant.

Music: Joseph Kosma.